


"Flowers From Heaven"

by chroniclesofatimelord



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who (1963), Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Gen, The Sleepers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-08
Updated: 2017-05-08
Packaged: 2018-10-29 14:46:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 22,024
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10856169
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chroniclesofatimelord/pseuds/chroniclesofatimelord
Summary: The story is simple. The Doctor must save someone she knows by finding a special flower on the very edge of paradise itself. However, is it truly a paradise when the Doctor discovers there are other things that reside in the rolling hills, the virgin fields and the grassy knolls of beauty itself? This flower holds the key in saving her friend's from a web of sickness.





	"Flowers From Heaven"

"Flowers From Heaven"  
By Robert J. Meddings

Part One  
STARLIGHT PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION  
Chapter one  
Someone walked towards the building which looked like a whimsical hive of blocks. No soul. No identity. There was the stranded hole of brick and mortar ahead—the architectural coldness of this place.  
This was a building without blessing. It was like an angry turtle with an orgy of parapets looking down with fierce eyes. Shooting heavenward, sweeping upward like a stone blossom, this building could be called a number of things. It could be called a miracle of science. It might be referred to as a hospital. Some might deem it a nursing home for the sick.  
Starlight Psychiatric Institution.  
Others, perhaps, may call it an asylum.  
Such a crude word could still be relevant in today's world of advanced tech and new discoveries. Often the word like “asylum” may be a stigma. It brought to mind the gothic imagination of big Victorian building, being intimidating, hording broken patients.  
This woman, accompanied by her friend, moved on through the banquet of marble paths leading to the pearly gates. Wearing the avatar clothes which hanged on her, and her long, black coat flitting around her legs, the woman looked like an approaching storm.  
Her features looked good for someone in her mid to late thirties, seeing the expression of controlled calm carved in her. One would find her eyes hiding a universe of memories.  
It's a thought that dug into her mind for a moment. How could she be calm at a time like this? The universe was never calm. She knew this. That's why she escaped to explore the all of time and space.  
Never calm.  
And now this?  
While walking through the starlight view, spreading under the arched skies offering a view of the cosmos, they walked between the gouges of trees to reach the building itself.  
In the depths of her long memories, the woman could hear the screams of the battles she fought. She could hear the explosions of horror wiping out so many lives. She could hear the slate of steel grinding out a civilization, dropping into the frightening horizon of war. Sometimes, in her sleep, she could still feel the anger which devastated the entire civilization in a single swoop. Her feelings twitched like it's something dirty. Maybe she belonged in this place too.  
“You're all right?” her friend said.  
“I suggest we just keep walking,” the woman said. 

Chapter two  
Turning for a moment, looking over her shoulder, the woman could see the blue box standing in the passageway like a patient friend. The sight of such a thing brought hope to many.  
Those words Police Public Call Box could be seen implemented above the double doors while the grainy shell of blue was raked with the old scratches from a recent escape. They looked like fingernail scratches.  
“I'll be back,” the woman said to the box. “Don't worry.”  
Resuming her walk, a cradle of footsteps collecting on the path, she could not hide her dislike for being here. There were a thousand other planets she would rather be on, yet she was here on Chara Zuotov.  
Glancing at the seminar of topiary feats, she and her friend skirted through the path before seeing the interesting works cut from the hedges.  
What was this place? There were often references to it as Sorrel Occidentalis. Some people called it Hell's Gates. It was simply known as the Starlight Psychiatric Institution.  
And the skies? Made up of five stars, the constellation called Vombatus Slurunn resembling the shape of a dragon. It can be seen most prominently just above the Northern horizon just before the spring equinox.  
“You're sure you want to be here?” the Asian man said.  
“I couldn't abandoned a friend like this,” the woman confessed. “I have no choice.”  
“I think you're walking into the jaws of hell itself here.”  
“I know that,” the woman barked.  
“Might be better if I stay with you.”  
“Thank you, but you don't need to do that. This is MY responsibility.”  
“I like to get this over with,” the man said.  
“I don't like loose ends.”  
“Is the TARDIS going to be okay by itself?”  
“Indubitably.”  
Both newcomers stood before the doors meant for the gods with its height-cracking, towering framework. It was strength and power, making it seem more like a prison. That slate of doors was a force.  
It was intimidating.  
It proved a spectacle.  
It did not deter the woman from stepping inside the building while her friend followed her. So much space for special guests.  
She was here to see someone.  
She was ready to go inside the building. 

Chapter three  
Rolling back into his chair, shuffling with a great weight, the monstrous brute puffed on a cigar which dragged with clouds of smudges. His lungs must be like a coal chamber.  
The woman coughed as she fanned the air with her hand, her face lifting with poetry. The giant seemed amused by her inability to fight off the cigar smoke. Ah, tobacco. The Earth's best gift to the cosmos.  
“State your business,” the giant said.  
“Visiting,” she said.  
“No one visits here.”  
“I have my reasons.”  
“What is your intent?” the giant continued.  
“I told you. Visiting.”  
“We don't like people who try to get funny.”  
“Do I look like a funny person to you?” the woman said.  
“Who is the person you're going to see?”  
This giant was a Cekuk who were often jolly workaholics taking on seasonal jobs as cops, security guards, patrol services and sometimes chaperone. Here he was a front desk clerk. Of sorts.  
“I'm here to see prisoner X-26,” the woman said.  
The Cekuk lifted his eyebrows, showing initial dismay, his glare like two bullet points. However, the woman remained fixed in place while the archer stayed at her side. His Chinese features grew into a stronghold of calm.  
It was almost as if everyone was getting tired of waiting. Both the Chinese archer and the Cekuk were exchanging competitive stares trying to figure out each other's weakness. The Cekuk returned his glare to the woman who stepped into the conversation without flinching.  
“You're sure that's a good idea?” the Cekuk said.  
“Of course, I am expected,” the woman said.  
“That so?” the Cekuk grumbled. “What makes you so special?”  
“Am I allowed to see the patient or are you going to give me the runaround?” the woman said in an explosive voice.  
“I got to check for credentials,” the Cekuk said. “Prisoner X-26, huh? Her name is Soreen Blackwood. Background unknown. History unknown. Family unknown. Mental health? Unpredictable. Violent. Unsocial. Visiting time—limited.”  
“Is this what you call a runaround?” the woman barked.  
“Uh-huh. My name is Stykk. I'm here to help you.”  
“You'll find I'm allowed to go anywhere,” the woman said. “I'm the designated caretaker. I brought her here and admitted her.”  
“State your name for the records,” the giant said.  
“I'm usually known as the Doctor.”  
“What did you say?”  
“You heard me.”  
The Cekuk looked at the computer as another pop-up box turned up and his eyes gave a note of sheer disbelief. His cigar almost fell out from his parted lips as he looked like he got sucker-punched.  
“That's right. I'm the Doctor,” the woman said. “And this is my friend TJ.”  
“I'm not sure if I should raise the alarms or not,” Stykk said.  
“I'm here to see Soreen,” the Doctor said. “I have something I need to give her. It's a flower. A special flower.”

THE PHANTOM PLANET  
Chapter four  
A day ago.  
It seemed like a lifetime.  
The soldiers stayed together like survivors on a wooden raft in the middle of the ocean. Except this ocean was a stretch of jungle running through miles in constant foliage.  
Something was howling in the forest. It didn't sound friendly. It became an unbearable shrieking which filled the trees like a shuddering chorus. That howling penetrated the jungles like a blight.  
How were they going get out of here? Could they last another hour under the plight of howling? Could the trees be screaming at them too? It seemed impossible.  
“Three-fourths of the crew is dead,” the commander growled. “King. Dead. Miller. Dead. KellyAnne. Dead. Look where it got the rest of us!”  
“Now isn't the time to lose your nerves, commander Sessions,” the Doctor countered.  
“This was supposed to be a science expedition with a military escort,” the commander said. “You crossed our paths by accident. And now this?”  
“Keep yourself calm,” the woman said. “This place can tap into your fears...”  
“You still think this planet is alive?” Sessions said.  
“It's possible,” the Doctor said.  
“I think you're full of it,” Sessions said.  
“Typical military mind.”  
“There's only six of us left. Ryan, Bannon, DeVos and myself. Along with the Chinese commander. And then there's you. I don't even know who the hell you are.”  
“You came out of nowhere,” DeVos popped. “You expect us to work with you?”  
“You lost your people. I lost my TARDIS,” the Doctor said. “There is a common foe that is stopping us from achieving our goals. I believe we can work together.”  
“This planet is going to eat us alive!” Ryan said.  
“Now is not the time, private!” Sessions snarled.  
“The forest. It's alive! It's going to take us back to the shadows!”  
“Great!” Sessions said to the Doctor. “You keep putting bad ideas into this poor fellow's head.”  
“Mere conjecture, perhaps,” the Doctor said. “I'm usually more right than wrong.”  
“You should listen to her,” TJ added.  
“You're in big trouble, my dubious friend,” Sessions said. “Stay out of my way.”  
“Don't be a fool!” the Doctor barked.  
“My military crew was supposed to protect our scientists and reach those ruins. And this is what happens. Most of my people are dead.”  
“And my TARDIS is taken. You were being reckless!”  
“I don't care about that damned TARDIS. I'm holding you accountable for what happened here! I think you're working with them!”  
“That's the dumbest thing I've heard!” TJ shouted. 

Chapter five  
The howling through the forest sounded like rainfall of voices, and the storm of shrieks powered through the jungles like a frantic chill. It stopped the breath of air while the makeshift of howling continued as a driving force.  
It cut into the forest with a staccato beating while the roar of voices lifted into a terrible wail growing louder. It became cold in the jungles as the howling consumed the wooded depths. Its underblast of noise scratched at the silence.  
Now the pithole of shrieks sounded like rabid animals tearing and feasting in savage hills. It became a shroud of monsters, sleeking, turning, twisting. That howling was getting closer. Closer still.  
It made Ryan swivel like a nervous kid. They felt their throats clench with fear as they listened to the jungles coming to life. Somehow the wind turned into shifting horror.  
No doubt Ryan was the youngest on the team who looked like the whitest boy on the block. His hair cropped short, clipped, his face molded like a good conservative. Ryan hit the gym so many times that he's prime rib, his frame in good shape like a raging fitness nut. The exact opposite of Bannon who was black as coal and a little chubby around the edges.  
Keeping to his footing, struggling with his peace, Bannon held the gun in his hands while muttering a few words. Somehow he hoped God would listen to him as attested by the cross around his neck. His face tightened while the howling tore through the shadows of the jungle.  
Shadows of the day.  
They were the administrators.  
These creatures kept to the shadows while maintaining the presence between trees. This place grew populated by the sweeping legion of shadows toiling like blackness with teeth. They moved like daggers.  
Now their faces coughed with more howling which carved into the ears of men. Bannon tried to put off the voices out of his head while saying a few prayers, but the howling chipped away the calm.  
“I got to get out of here!” DeVos shouted. “I can't stay here!”  
“As you were!” Sessions shouted.  
“They'll come for us!” DeVos shouted. “They'll come for you! They'll come for me!”  
“Maintain your position!” the commander barked.  
“They took my friend Pence! What makes you think they won't take me!”  
“Don't do this!” Sessions replied.  
“No!”  
“Listen to your superior!” TJ said. “I listen to my emperor without question. You can do the same!”  
“That howling... won't stop!” DeVos cried out.  
DeVos bolted from the small clutch of trees, shuffling away from the other survivors—he traded the rough cover of trees and rocks for a chance to escape.  
Though Bannon tried to snatch him back, he couldn't stop the uneducated fool storming into the jungle while the rest of the dwindling crew held back in the safety of the sheltered trees. 

Chapter six  
Now DeVos rushed into the hot, sweltering jungle while he took several steps into the next batch of trees. His heart pumped. His lungs clenched. Holding the plasma rifle in his hands, he made a desperate lunge to save himself from the jungles. He didn't get far.  
With a sudden blur, like a blotch of movement, several frames of intrudes fell onto DeVos like a blinding, whirling hurricane. Their talons gripped DeVos while pulling him out of sight. They were like clamping ghosts clinging to him as he throbbed in pain.  
The administrators looked like devil monsters who took DeVos from this paradise. They crawled out of the luxury of the garden as they brought sin with them. The administrators came out to play.  
“You stupid fool!” the Doctor muttered. “Getting yourself killed!”  
Her eyes narrowed as the administrators dragged DeVos into the embers of the forest, clawing, scraping at him. There was nothing left of him as he was pulled into darkness—the howling of the jungles followed.  
The Doctor signaled for the others to remain as she lifted her hand, and her friend TJ fell back into place while the barking winds rippled around them like music of destruction.  
Now the administrators shuffled back into the jungles while their outstretched talons receded from view. Their howling interrupted the jungles once again. They moved like a blight. They strolled through the forest like phantoms. 

Chapter seven  
The small crew still remained in the clutch of trees, saddling in suffering defeat; branches of the overhanging trees offered some refuge to the few men left.  
Commander Sessions took the water canister to take a sip from it, and he offered it to Bannon who gripped the bottle for a mere drink. Ryan shook his head like someone losing interest in everything.  
Staying on their turf, the Doctor looked over the native regions as she could see the giant ruins protecting the flowers inside. It looked more like a primitive greenhouse with its endless rows of impressive plants. The ruins seemed to beckon to her with a starry wisdom. Shifting away from the sight, the Doctor mulled over her thoughts. Enough reason for her to stay put as she began putting together some junk left over from the deceased. The Doctor felt like she was working in a graveyard.  
“My people drops like flies, and you show up,” Sessions said.  
“We have no part in this,” TJ said. “We are in this as much as you are.”  
“Coincidence,” Sessions said.  
“There is no such thing as coincidence in my line of work,” the Doctor said in a forceful voice. “I suggest you stop being so closed-minded.”  
The Doctor's lips tightened as she made a smile that wasn't really a smile. It was more of a painful grin. Her face shifted into a knot of tension as her mind became a landmine of ideas. She glanced at the ruins again while the temples stood like stone beasts.  
“Stealing from the dead now?” Sessions said.  
“Not exactly,” the Doctor replied.  
With a note of haste, the Doctor gripped the communication device DeVos left behind. She began to tweak it as her fingers stormed into a series of repairs. Unraveling the stew of wires, she produced the sonic screwdriver from her jacket to perform a little electronic surgery on it. The device made a constant hum.  
“Why aren't they attacking now?” Sessions said.  
“Perhaps they don't see us as a threat,” the Doctor said. “Maybe they're not up to full power yet? It could be any number of things.”  
“That's a lot of guessing, and no real facts.”  
“I suggest not wandering around.”  
TJ was readying his bow and arrow as the military men checked over their guns with thundering clicks. Their hurried fingers scampered over the gun chambers to see if they were fully loaded. It's not a good idea to run on empty.  
The hot season pelted against them with the bites of sunlight trickling between the trees. Sessions swatted a mosquito on his neck like a swooping hawk tearing down its prey. Ryan looked like someone who didn't want to be here. None of them did.  
“This place is alive!” Ryan scowled. “This planet is like a sickness!”  
“At ease, private!” Sessions snapped.  
“It eats at you. Claws at you! Drags you under!” Ryan continued.  
“Enough! We get the idea!” Sessions snapped.  
“He might have a point,” the Doctor said while working on a contraption. “If he says the planet is alive, it may very well be. This, ah, Phantom Planet.”  
“Phantom Planet?” Sessions countered. “You must be joshing.”  
“The world of ghosts. This planet is showing life of everything from rocks to dirt to the trees. The administrators are just part of the cycle of life here. They act like white blood cells, being leukocytes or leucocytes. The administrators work as an immune system involved in protecting the body against both disease. The planet is the body. We are the disease.”  
“That sounds like a lot of crazy bunk,” Sessions said.  
“It makes perfect sense,” TJ added.  
“We are the dangerous threat here,” the Doctor said. “And the administrators are trying to flush us out. They're protecting something here. I wager it's something to do with the Garden of Eden in those ruins.”

STARLIGHT PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION  
Chapter eight  
“Whatever happens, I'll take full responsibility with Soreen,” the Doctor said.  
“Yeah, unfortunately,” the Cekuk barked. “You have full access to prisoner X-26...”  
“Her name is Soreen.”  
“Yeah, yeah,” the Cekuk said while chewing on his cigar.  
“You're always this annoying?” TJ said.  
“Oh, yes, I am during the weekdays. I'm in an infinitely better mood when I'm off on the weekends.”  
“You're going to let us in?” TJ said.  
“Don't get so excited,” Stykk said. “The Doctor here has visiting rights. Doesn't say anything about anyone else.”  
“My visiting rights extend to my friends,” the Doctor said.  
“Not according to this computer. And not on my watch,” Stykk said. “These are administrative orders.”  
The Doctor stepped forward for a moment while her eyes lit up with a hurricane of anger. Dropping her hands into her coat pocket, she looked like a school teacher losing her patience in class.  
As the Doctor bit on her lower lips, fighting the urge to shout at stupid laws, she felt her thoughts churning in her mind like an ocean of ideas. Her face looked ready to snap like a tightrope.  
“I hate these long lines of red tape!” the Doctor said.  
“It's all right,” TJ said. “You go ahead.”  
“You're sure?” the Doctor replied. “I can countermand their ridiculous rules.”  
“It'll take too long,” TJ said.  
“These bureaucrats. They make it an art form.”  
“I'll hold the fort here,” TJ said.  
As the Doctor made her farewells to her friend, leaving him behind in the lobby space, she prepared for going inside the Starlight Psychiatric Institution. She stepped through the mainframe next to the Cekuk's desk.  
The Doctor would go into the rest of the building which reminded her of the seven layers of Dante's Inferno. The walls, the floors and the ceilings gave a vague sense of death. This place was hiding something.

Chapter nine  
Stepping through the midsection of the scanning machine, finding herself in the midst of the scowling computers, the Doctor became the specimen under the magnifying glass. She didn't like it.  
As a result, putting up the bioscan on the screen, Stykk could see the results of the bioscan in a blueprint: she had a body temperature of fifteen degrees Celsius, two hearts and a binary vascular system.  
She was, indeed, a Time-Lord in every sense of the word, and so much more. The circulation of stories about her travels never faded away. The Doctor was walking history. She was the center of godhood.  
“Is there a problem?” the Doctor said.  
“Yup,” Stykk said. “You can't bring in any weapons.”  
“What are you talking about?” the Doctor snapped.  
“It's in the left hand pocket of your jacket,” Stykk grumbled.  
“Don't be ridiculous,” the Doctor said. “The sonic screwdriver is NOT a weapon!”  
“It is in your hands,” Stykk pointed out. “You got to leave it behind if you want to go inside the building.”  
“Rules, rules rules!” the Doctor barked in an annoyed voice.  
“And the psychic paper. I can't have you walking around with that either.”  
“I'll take care of them here,” TJ said. “No worries.”  
“There's one thing I can't stand is bureaucracy of the lowest order,” the Doctor said.  
“Well, we all can't be civilized like the Time-Lords,” Stykk said. “Cough them up.”  
“All right, let's get this over with,” the Doctor said.  
“And what about the flower?” Stykk said.  
“THAT stays with me. It's a gift for Soreen.”  
“It's got to go through customs check.”  
“Your bioscan shows it's a flower. Nothing more.”  
“All right, all right, keep your knickers on.”  
Her hair settled around her shoulders like cliffs of blackness, soothing strings falling into a blanket of warmth.  
And she had few friends.  
One of them was a sonic screwdriver.  
She planted the device on the desk for the old guard who looked like a giant windbag. His features shifted from hardened caution to something like relief. He'll be glad when she's out of his hair.  
“I want you to take care of this,” the woman said.  
“I will do that,” Styyk said.  
“You don't want me hanging you responsible for anything.”  
“Yeah, yeah, what else is new? I'll take care of it like it's my own,” Stykk grumbled.  
“That's what I'm afraid of. Don't you touch it either,” the Doctor growled.  
“I'm not planning to. It's against the rules to handle others' property.”  
“Good to hear some rules still apply.”  
The giant man settled over the counter as his large, massive fingers coiled around the screwdriver device. He lifted the mechanical toy and put it into a cage which locked by itself with a whirl.  
“Take care,” TJ said.  
Now the beastly man cuddled back into his seat, his face hanging with less resistance. He grabbed a cigar from his pocket and plugged it into his mouth as he lit it up like a bonfire. The smoke curled into the air like a spreading cough.  
“I feel much better now,” Stykk said.  
“I'm glad to hear it,” the Doctor said.  
“That sonic thing is more destructive than a battlefield of cannons.”  
“You exaggerate.”  
“Uh-huh. I'm not letting you carry that around.”  
“It's harmless,” the Doctor said.  
“It's a key. It can unlock a thousand doors,” Stykk grumbled.  
“I haven't the time to debate the merits of the screwdriver. I'm willing to depart with it. However, I do expect for it to be here when I come back.”  
“I suggest moving along,” TJ said. “I'll make sure our depressing friend won't mess with your property.”  
“Depressing?” Stykk coughed.  
The giant creature flinched when he watched the woman take the device out into the open. Her hand was very long and delicate, and so was the sonic device she held: sleek, smooth with a few furnishing touches. It was a shard of metal that was so much more.  
As the Doctor finished setting aside the sonic screwdriver, the psychic paper, paper clips, ball of string, and other knickknacks that bungled her pockets like extra weight, she was finally ready to step into the asylum itself.  
The halls stretched on like the shores of infinity while the fine moment of the Starlight Psychiatric Institution welcomed the Doctor inside.  
“What about this flower you got?” Stykk said.  
“This is the Walking Flower,” the Doctor said.  
“Should I be worried?”  
“It's a gift,” the Doctor said. “Nothing more. Why don't you mind your own business?”

THE PHANTOM PLANET  
Chapter ten  
“Is that why you're here?” Sessions said. “To find the Garden of Eden?”  
“I need something from the garden that will save my friend from going insane,” the Doctor said. “She's dying from a mental illness and this is the only planet with a cure.”  
“Must be worth a king's ransom,” Ryan said.  
“It is,” the Doctor replied, “But I'm not planning to profit off this. I have good intentions.”  
“I bet you're some kind of poacher,” Ryan grumbled. “You're going to resell this stuff on the black market.”  
“I'm nothing of the kind,” the Doctor said. “I'm here for the flower. Nothing more.”  
“You're a thief.”  
“My friend is slipping away. It could be some sort of infection, and it's tangling inside her bloodstream too fast. I don't have a lot of time. This flower has the antibiotics needed to cure her...”  
“And you're willing to go at great lengths to get it,” Sessions said.  
“This is a planet of sorrows,” the Doctor said. I'll still fight it for what I need. I won't let my friend down.”  
“Competing scientists,” Ryan said. “I've seen them before. Profiteering off the sick and the dead.”  
“What do you care what we're doing here?” TJ said in anger.  
“Our scientists needed us to protect them while we go into the ruins,” Sessions said. “Fat lot of good that did us.”  
“You're looking for some kind of retribution?” the Doctor said.  
“I'm looking for revenge,” Sessions said. “I'm not going to let this place rob me of my people. It's going to pay. Eye for an eye.”  
“Then we need to work together to get through this,” TJ said. “Not fight against each other.”  
“I concur,” Bannon said.  
“Our guns have no effects on these administrators,” Sessions said. “Neither do explosions. They're picking us off.”  
“They're the devil in the woods,” Bannon added.  
“That's not helping!” Ryan grumbled.  
“They're not real, but projections of this living planet,” the Doctor said. “The administrators are the pawns, and the planet is the king.”  
“That's crazy,” Sessions said.  
“Why couldn't you come up with a better name than administrators?” TJ asked. “That name sounds ridiculous.”  
“that's what they do, isn't it?” Sessions said. “They administer. They administrate our lives.”  
“It's better than calling them the Legion of the White Blood Corposals,” the Doctor interjected while her hands worked over the device being cobbled together from strings and debris.  
“What are you doing?” Ryan said. “You're building a weapon?”  
“Of sorts,” the Doctor replied.  
“She could be some sort of military agent looking to steal our plans and profits,” Ryan continued. “Someone working against us to go into the ruins first.”  
“Do you ever shut up?” TJ said.  
“Make me!”  
“I would be interested to see how long you'll last in a fight...”  
“That's enough!” the Doctor snapped while she leaned over to work on the current tech. “This is what is going to get us out of here.”  
“A communications device?” Ryan said with disbelief.  
“And many more like it,” the Doctor said “I'll need all of your communications devices! Quickly!”  
“No way, Jose!” Ryan said. “This is the only way we can keep in contact with each other!”  
“There is going to be none of you left when the administrators get done with you,” the Doctor said. “The devices will be more use to me than you.”  
“I can't even trust you!” Ryan whined. “We know these people for barely a day!”  
“Don't get excited!” Sessions said. “Those things will hear us. Maybe they'll sense us.”  
“I'm not getting excited!”  
“is it going to kill the administrators for good?” Sessions said.  
The Doctor said, “There's no way to kill them because they don't really exist in the first place. They're part of the planet here. They're ghosts. Phantoms to sweep the jungles. I don't think you can kill them as they'll be soon replaced with others. This plane is a living beast.”  
“Is it going to kill them?”  
“it's the next best thing we have to get rid of them,” the Doctor said. “I'm going to give them a surgical lobotomy.”  
“Give her the communicators. I don't think they'll be any good to us,” Sessions said.  
“Wise choice,” the Doctor muttered.  
“Are you crazy?” Ryan said. “That's our lifeline!”  
“Do you have any better ideas?” Sessions growled. 

Chapter eleven  
The others deprived of themselves of the communicators while they gave them to the Doctor. She was working like mad scientist over the gizmo gadget, plugging in wires, sorting and resorting. She made it look like a contraption out of a junkyard. Was it going to work?  
As the Doctor worked on the device, she could hear the beast of the jungle fluttering around her again. It was just the forest and her. And the voices. They were now the opposing forces.  
She had come here with the TARDIS only to have her precious blue box taken away from her by the administrators. No doubt they seemed interested in the TARDIS which suggested they were intelligent. The Doctor made a faint sigh while dragging through the work.  
Her fingers cobbled together the mechanics while she shifted the wires around. The Doctor felt her thoughts shift to the flowers in the gardens. Inside this strange garden of Eden, the very place the Phantom Planet was defending, was this rich source of rare flowers which gave great hope to those who had none. The Doctor wanted to pluck one of the flowers to save her long-time friend from dying.  
“Here we go,” the Doctor said while making the final touches. “I would suggest you follow my lead.”  
“Who died and made you boss?” Sessions snarled.  
“You want to get out of here?” the Doctor snapped.  
“Yes.”  
“Do you want to see your family again? Your friends?”  
“YES.”  
“Then you better listen to me,” the Doctor said. “I'm the only chance you have of getting out of here.”  
“Ain't that like a woman?” Ryan said. “Give her an inch and she think she owns the place.”  
“Misogynist too. How quaint,” the Doctor said. “Since you're the man, perhaps you want to figure out the basics of the Electromagnetic Construction Communicator Network? Or ECCN for short. Maybe you want to add another speaker to the compound...”  
“Er...” Ryan began.  
“Then shut up a minute and let me get this ready!” the Doctor said. “Don't bother me again.”  
“I'm sorry.”  
“No, you're not. You're being annoying,” the Doctor snapped.  
As the Doctor listened to the constant howling of the forest, growing closer like a reaching hand of darkness, she hastened her work on the new invention she held in her lap.  
Hearing the administrators coming for them in a biblical whirlwind, shifting into a thundering chorus, it sounded like an ocean of voices rising. They were coming for the soldiers. And especially the Doctor.  
As the trees flustered spilling into a beating nightmare, the howling tore through the armpit of darkness. It sounded dirty, cruel and brutal; that cough of noise flung through the woods flung like an outcry. The planet was crying. The soldiers were doing the hurting. Some of the trees snapped as more administrators trickled between the trees like daggers.  
“Great Gallifrey!” the Doctor muttered. 

Part Two  
Chapter twelve  
Setting the ECCN into the cradle of her hands, holding it like a gift of technology, the Doctor fixed a few wires to make sure everything held. Holding the sonic screwdriver, she plugged the device into the ECCN to generate more power.  
It worked like a giant battery. Holding the sonic device to the new invention that looked like a mini-junkyard. Something twisted in the Doctor's face like a maniacal grin. Did she enjoy being in danger like this?  
She switched the device on.  
It hummed.  
Soon the Doctor's invention created a booming effect, not unlike that of giant echo, while it sent signals into the air around the soldiers' crew. It sounded like hammers of noise pushing against the howling.  
The Doctor could see the administrators retreating back from the initial rage of the device, struggling like deafened fools, hissing, howling. Their faces clutched with the fear while the ECCN drove out waves of echoes. Now the Doctor created a safe route between the grove of trees to the ruins.  
Beyond the refuge was the oft-rumored gardens no one ever survived to tell the story about. The Doctor continued to hold the device while she pressed the sonic screwdriver against it to generate complete cycles of energy to keep working. The ECCN was holding up.  
The Doctor's invention threw a sea of noises to counter the howling and the administrators themselves, and she became Moses parting the Red Seas to the leave the other side of Egypt. This was her Mount Sinai.  
Her aviator clothes hanged on her like a cool breeze which flapped like theater curtains. Her fluffy shirt wailed around her neck in a soft choke while the administrators stepped back from the device's outbursts like old people running away from a metal concert.  
The others followed the Doctor without sidestepping the path, their collecting footsteps staying on the gouges of dirt the Doctor traversed. Sessions held the rifle plasma while he could see the administrators shuffling away like helpless, throbbing animals. Finding her leverage, the Doctor continued to hold the sonic device to the gadget.  
TJ, Bannon and Ryan hurried after the Doctor as they remained in the safe zone without going over the marked edges. While they remained on the safe path, nothing would happen to them.  
The administrators held their hands to their heads while closing themselves off from the biting echoes. TJ held his bow and arrow with great skill while Ryan and others reached more than the midway point. The soldiers grew more confident as the administrators ran like frightened chickens.  
“Don't like that? Huh? HUH?” Ryan shouted.  
“Don't antagonize them!” TJ muttered.  
“Come on! You want a piece of me?”  
“Stop that! It's stupid.”

Chapter thirteen  
They were almost at the ruins now, only a short distance away, seeing only a small stretch of grounds to walk. The Doctor held the device like a fortune teller cradling the crystal ball, keeping everyone's future in sway.  
However, despite its working functions, the device began to puff and huff like an over-bloated fat man running a marathon.  
It made a grinding noise while hitting rock bottom. The Doctor winced at the ECCN as if it abandoned everyone on the team. It was a cruel thing. It made a sound like the engine running out of gas.  
“Oops!” the Doctor said. “Overloaded! I was afraid of this!”  
“What are you talking about?” Sessions said.  
“Hurry! The ECCN is giving out!” the Doctor announced. “We need to hurry to the ruins! It's our only chance!”  
“What?”  
“Run! Run now! Run like there's a pancake sale!”  
The others in the military crew, and TJ as well, made a sudden dash for the ruins just ahead of them, moving along the steadily declining safe zone. Now the administrators began to poke through the shield the Doctor created—their ghoulish forms breaking through the Doctor's barrier.  
Their fierce, forceful frames tore through the invisible wall while the howling lifted once more like a blazing, swollen hate. Their shrieks rippled through the barrier while their fiendish forms followed the runaway crew.  
As the Doctor stomped through the gates, carrying the broken device with her, the soldiers and TJ followed suit. Sessions rushed wildly while TJ and Bannon filed through the chiseled gates. Except for Ryan lagging off. So much for his mouthing off at the monsters.  
For a moment, TJ swung his bow into the attacking administrator, knocking it aside, but he could still feel the cold rakes of its intruding fingers. It tried to slash his face like a set of kitchen knives.  
“Be gone, demon!” TJ shouted.  
Pushing it to the side, TJ managed to keep the gates to the ruins opened. Shuffling for an arrow from the quiver, moving sharply, TJ took the long length of arrow and shoved it into the administrator's arm while it uttered with a howling.  
Bannon held them off with the plasma gun, but it was no good. So he used it like a battering ram while knocking the administrators back. They were pressing and pushing like a bag of wild cats at the gates. TJ leaped in to help the others to help fend off the snipping creatures.  
“There's too many of them!” Sessions said.  
“Close the door!” the Doctor ordered. “It's safer in here. This is the central system of the planet. It's a refuge!”  
“Come on!” Sessions shouted. “Don't dally!”

STARLIGHT PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION  
Chapter fourteen  
She strolled into the hallway which remained uneventful save the running walls and the dull ceilings meeting each other in perfect unity. It was supposed to be the sanest place on Chara Zuotov.  
The Doctor continued to observe the guests who had their own rooms, domestic scenes to sooth their personalities. Each room was a cage. Each cage was a world of its own.  
Now the Doctor shook her head as she stepped into the hallway marked as passage 2B where prisoner 26 would be. Her stoic features tightened as she could see the familiar woman trapped in her room filled with a library, a closet and a bed. Home, sweet, home. Or was it?  
“I'm here,” the Doctor announced.  
“It took you long enough,” Soreen said. “Or do you always forget your friends?”  
“We're not friends,” the Doctor said. “Not anymore.”  
“So now you've come to gloat?”  
“I made my promise, and I kept it, Soreen,” the Doctor said. “I'm here to save you.”  
“Do you get a penny for every time you say that?” Soreen said.  
“It's true.”  
“Is the traveling still distracting you?”  
“You're looking well,” the Doctor said. “They're taking care of you here.”  
“Yes, yes, I have everything I need here,” Soreen said. “Except my freedom.”  
“You should be thankful you will be able to live to see another sunset down the road,” the Doctor said. “I'm going to make sure you do...”  
“More fantasies. It makes me feel like I'm living in a cage. Is that how you see me? Something like an animal living in a zoo?”  
“I brought you here for a reason,” the Doctor said. “You lost track of yourself. I can't trust you in the universe.”  
“I'm not exactly as bold as your Battle of Scorosos.”  
“This isn't a competition, Soreen. These people in the Starlight building are here to help you. I'm here to help you.”  
“By never showing up.”  
The Doctor sighed. “You know how the TARDIS is.”  
“I don't know,” Soreen said. “How is the TARDIS?”  
“it's fine,” the Doctor replied. “She's fine. Sometimes she has a mind of her own. I would have been here much sooner.”  
“You need to do something about that. Put the TARDIS on a tighter leash.”  
“Traveling takes up a lot of time. You know this. I would have come sooner.”  
“So you're here to seek forgiveness?” Soreen said. “Is that it? To find some peace between us?”  
“I was hoping so,” the Doctor said.  
“You placed me in a padded cell, locked the door and forgot about me. I have every right to be angry with you,” Soreen snarled.  
“There's still time for us to settle our differences before the day drags out,” the Doctor said.  
“So you can go back to your life of travel? And I go back to a life of nothing?”  
“What would you like me to do?” the Doctor said.  
“I want you to say you're sorry, get on your knees and cut your own head off,” Soreen said.  
“I shouldn't think so,” the Doctor said. “I like my head.”  
“Always jokes with you, isn't it?”  
“Do the voices still bother you?” the Doctor said. “Do they still speak to you?”

Chapter fifteen  
Something was bothering her. Soreen felt her chest clenched with an ache while her thoughts flooded like hanging tatters. Her face tightened as daggers of pain stroked her mind.  
Her eyes lit up like the storm of fires. Reaching out with her hand, like some Shakespearean actor reciting his lines about his plight in death, Soreen looked like someone still trapped on her island of doom.  
“I can see them in my head” Soreen said. “They're always coming! They're like ghosts! Nightcrawlers coming out from under the ground! I can see them coming through the smoke of my thoughts. I can see their faces! Always smiling at me! I can hear them too! The screams! The dying!'  
“You don't have to go through with this,” the Doctor said.  
“Why not? I want to go through it,” Soreen said. “I want to see everything through!”  
“You're making yourself tired.”  
“They're too strong! They're with me when I'm awake. They're with me when I'm sleeping! I can see them on the edges of my thoughts. They're the ones you see in war. Their faces empty. They're coming for me! They're always coming for me!”  
“Can you communicate with them?” the Doctor said. “Maybe you can persuade them to leave you.”  
“Don't you get it? I don't want them to leave me!” Soreen said. “I want to hear the voices! They're the only thing that's real! They're not going to let loose. They're too strong! They're here for me and everyone else!”  
“Fight it!” the Doctor said. “Push them away. You're stronger than them. You're better than the voices you hear!”  
“I like the voices.”  
“You will be cured of this madness. I hope to save your life.”  
“With what? Magic?”  
“I have a flower which will counter the downward health you are experience. This is science in the making...” the Doctor said.  
Soreen tightened her shoulders as she felt the sordid ache punching through her chest. Her hands twisted like gnarly twigs in the wind. Her face showed someone going through torture. Her eyes. Pain.  
The Doctor hoped to lead Soreen through the maze of her broken thoughts. Instead, like a whiplash, Soreen made a nodding gesture which knocked the Time-Lord back as if she was attacked by shadows.  
She had a cure.  
Everything was going to be all right.  
Something did hit the Doctor. She could feel the tossed ache in her shoulder while she tried to get up on her feet again. That inkpool of pain scattered through her like a messy drape.  
Soreen looked like someone calling to her demons. The Doctor swore she saw a blight of shadows hitting her.  
“Interesting,” the Doctor said. “Something is channeling your psychic link through you. Your madness is growing.”  
“I can hear them calling to me! I can feel them speaking to me! There is the drums of war I'm hearing!”  
“Your health is declining,” the Doctor said. “Something is clinging to your body like a plague. I can still save you if you let me.”  
“You're not here at night. When they sing to you.”  
“There are no voices,” the Doctor said. “There is just you. And the sickness.”  
“What are you talking about?” Soreen barked.  
“Your thoughts, your mind, has some sort of psychic failing. It's tearing your down in soul and body. This sickness. It feeds on the mind like parasite. It feeds on your thoughts.”  
“The ghosts?” Soreen said.  
“There are no ghosts here in this building,” the Doctor said. “It's just your illness is getting worse. Your body isn't immune to the effects. The longer you ignore treatment, the more the sickness can affect you...”  
“You couldn't tell me this before?”  
“It's the madness inflicting you,” the Doctor said. “I have the cure from the Walking Flower which can help you get better.”  
“So it's your fault for taking me here,” Soreen said.  
“It's my fault. I should have checked your health before bringing you here. This place drains you. It follows you with voices...”  
“You come for a confession?” Soreen said. “You need a preacher for that.”  
“What do the voices tell you?”  
“They tell me to kill you. A hundred times over. A thousand times over.”  
“I'll fix this,” the Doctor said. “I'll make things right. Let me help you!”  
“Empty promises, as usual. You insult me,” Soreen said.  
“You don't want my confession. You don't want my forgiveness. You don't want my help! What do you want?”  
“I want to kill you and bury you!” Soreen snapped.  
“You're dying,” the Doctor said. “Why can't you understand that?”  
Soreen stepped up to the unseen wall between them while she placed the flat of her hand onto the surface. Her fingers rolled down like one would scratch a blackboard, making a screeching noise.  
Her sultry eyes stared at the Doctor with a threatening glare, piercing like dangerous knives. She looked like a bewitched woman under a spell. In an unexpected turn, Soreen banged her forehead against the invisible wall with the sheer force like once trying to crack an egg. She was like a bag of wild cats.  
“The voices! The voices! The voices!” she scowled. 

THE PHANTOM PLANET  
Chapter sixteen  
As Bannon threw his black fists into the closest administrator, picking up the right moves from his boxing days, he knew something had to be done to help Ryan get into the refuge.  
No doubt Ryan didn't think it was going to do down like this. Still it was better than sucking on a tube while laying in a hospital bed somewhere. Crying out, he felt the combing fingers raking at his shoulders. Those sounds of howling penetrated his soul.  
He felt something pull him outside through the crevice in the gates, still closing, and he realized something pulled him into the embers of darkness. That presence overpowered him as it mocked his fears.  
Staggering, leaping, Bannon tried to grab onto Ryan by his shoulder, but the administrators dragged poor Ryan out through the narrow doorway. That tiny crack would soon be closed while Sessions pressed his weight against it, applying his hands to shutting it completely.  
Ryan was gone.  
Into the darkness.  
TJ plucked the arrow with the bow with sight-seeing precision, his hands snapping the tied string back to release a shooting arrow through the narrow gap in the gates. He was like an apostle of war.  
Outside the howling continued to flood the air while the shrieks of soul-crushers tore into the thunder of silence. The walls of the ruins kept out of the menace.  
“I'm alive?” Bannon said.  
“Yeah, but Ryan's not!” Sessions said. “It's your fault!”  
“It's not my fault!”  
“Will you stop being shouty and let me concentrate for a moment!” the Doctor snapped.  
“I'm the only one of the few left, and stuck with you!” Sessions said.  
“The feeling is mutual!” Bannon said.  
“That sounds a bit racist,” TJ added.  
“How is it the arrows can do them harm while the guns can't?” Sessions piped.  
“Perhaps some iron in the metal on the arrow tip,” the Doctor said. “While the plasma rifles have energy that doesn't effect the creatures...”  
“You almost got us killed out there!” Sessions said. “Ryan didn't make it. How is that supposed to make me feel?”  
“It was a fighting chance!” the Doctor shot back. “We're here, aren't we?”  
“Minus Ryan!” Session said.  
“It's true,” Bannon interrupted. “She got us out of the forest. We would have been dead meat out there.”  
“Now the real test begins,” the Doctor said.  
“What do you mean the real test?” Sessions barked. “What does that mean?”  
“Shut your mouth or I'll punch it for you!” TJ said.  
“We're in the brain of the planet now,” the Doctor explained while looking around at the ruins. “The administrators won't come in here.”  
The Doctor set down the device on the ground while checking over the loose ends. Her thoughts wandered to the notion of why the ECCN didn't last as long as she thought. Did the work too fast, she concluded.  
Most important was she still had the sonic screwdriver. It would give her much-needed company while she looked down the waking caves which welcomed her.  
“It means... there's something much bigger, and more dangerous, waiting for us,” the Doctor said.  
“Oh great,” Sessions chimed. “That's beautiful.”  
As the Doctor looked over to the stoic tunnel leading up to the caves, seeing an askew view of a different world, she caught sight of paradise. It was filled with flowers, trees, gardens and whatnot.  
It was paradise in the making. It was the plantation of the gods no one was meant to see. That living fuel of perfection. And yet she could still feel a darkness rolling over it like a blight. This garden was not such an idyllic place it pretended to be.  
On the Phantom Planet.  
It was hiding in shadows. 

Chapter seventeen  
The ruins became a sprawling network of walls reaching up into towering heights meeting with the rock-sludge ceilings. Ridges boasted of strength, sheer and mighty, wary in their fortress of stone.  
Who would have created these walls? Where did the ruins come from? What civilization could have left these stones behind? After seeing such admirable traces of progress, it became a note of great culture.  
While mulling over the questions, toiling between the ragged pockets of stone, the Doctor came to the conclusion that the planet itself could have built these ruins. Everything was made from the planet's intelligence, a giant ego of knowledge—the Doctor realized she was walking on a living planet. Such an idea impressed her.  
The soldiers followed her through the temple ruins stretching into more caves like wandering routes. They circled around the giant garden which swept with virgin forests, sprinkling waters and climbing rocks. This was the fountain of youth. This was the philosopher's stone. It was every man's dream. This was a utopia.  
“So you believe this planet built the ruins?” Sessions said.  
“Why not? It created the administrators, the gardens and these giant walls. It is the creator. It produced the most beautiful gardens in the universe.”  
“Reminds me of Africa,” Bannon said. “The cradle of civilization.”  
“Indeed,” the Doctor said.  
“The trees in Africa were the way to life. They were important to nurturing the forests. Africa became the center of life.”  
“Some elements are the same here,” the Doctor said. “We are seeing the birth of everything here. This is a god planet.”  
“Are we safe here?” Sessions said.  
“This is the central system leading to the brain,” the Doctor said. “We should be safe.”  
“Should be?”  
“Can you feel the pressure getting to you?” the Doctor said. “That's the power emitting from the planet itself. If we go any deeper, the pressures might prove too strong for us. The power of its thoughts... beating against us...”  
“We need to find Ryan out there,” Sessions said. “This isn't right.”  
“It's too late for him,” TJ said.  
“He could be still alive. We need to get back to him.”  
“There's a 99.6 percent chance he is dead,” the Doctor said. “There's a very slim chance. Next to nothing.”  
“Might be still alive,” Sessions said.  
The Doctor sighed, “Even if we get by the administrators, what about the rest of the forest? There are too many variables.”  
“You're going to help him!” Sessions said.  
As Sessions gripped the Doctor by her shoulder, a rude shove followed by his manly might, the TJ jumped in to turn the tables on him as he twisted to pull the soldier away with slippery move.  
TJ caught Session's arm while pushing him forward and twisting it behind his back with a calm reserve. So calculated was his move TJ didn't need anyone's help on this.  
“Leave her alone, tough guy,” TJ said.  
TJ was ready to pounce on Sessions, but it wouldn't be a fair fight. TJ held the commander while he pushed him to the side. TJ was like a lion chewing on a canary in its mouth with ease.  
It was interesting to note how people were going to commit violence in the most peaceful land. However, the Doctor lifted her hands to brush aside several strands of hair from her face.  
TJ broke him off with a snapping gesture, hearing Sessions stumbling slightly as he tried not to fall to the ground. Everyone seemed to be not on his side today. Sessions gave the Chinese archer a nasty glare.  
“Are you done yet?” Sessions said.  
“No, I was thinking of taking you behind the wall and kicking the crap out of you,” TJ said. “I find I'm a little too bored to do that.”  
“I suggest you keep your hands off me.”  
“I'm sorry I didn't get here soon enough to help your elite crew,” the Doctor said. “Do you have a family and wife?”  
“I got a wife and kid on Andromeda IV. I made a promise to her that I would get back...”  
“Then you'll see them,” the Doctor replied. “I'll make sure of it. You need to keep a level head when coming in here.”  
“I'm not going to abandon anyone else,” Sessions said. “This whole thing has become a farce.”  
“You still got me, sir,” Bannon said.  
“Oh joy,” Sessions piped.  
“I haven't forgotten about Ryan or anyone else,” the Doctor said. “The day has gone bleak when you realize there is no such thing as paradise.”  
“What do you mean by that?”  
“There is always, and I do emphasize ALWAYS, a price to pay when you're looking for paradise. Now follow me if you want to live...”

Chapter eighteen  
The Doctor stepped through the mouth of of the cave leading to the most generous forest hanging in endless bliss. This secret fantasy in progress lifted into view with a charming spell.  
This was the genesis of the planet where perfection met with heaven—flowing, crawling seeds of paradise sewn from the world of green which could vex the most clever botanists while strolling here.  
Very few, if any, spectators had seen this place. There were no noises, engines or machines disrupting the forever calm of this cultivated greenhhouse. Such an oasis of beauty could only exist in the minds of writers or poets, signaling the world of the fantastic.  
There was only the simple tools of organic life itself. No plastics. No insecticide. No preservatives. This was the forest which grew in immortality. More hanging trees welcomed the patches in green and orchards of rapture.  
Such tropical regions stretched with the burden in harmony, peppering the fields with constant vigor, sweetened by the pot of thousands of flowers dotting the ecstasy-filled plains.  
At this time, producing the sonic screwdriver from her jacket, the Doctor checked the surroundings while studying the stark characteristics in the gardens. It was cut off from the rest of the universe. It was inside a cage of inner peace.  
“This place is old,” the Doctor said. “Mercilessly old. Might be older than TARDIS tech itself.”  
“Could be one of the oldest planets in the universe?” Bannon added. “We are close to the center of the galaxy.”  
“It's certainly one of the oldest,” the Doctor said. “Untouched by the distractions of progress. Strident, unsterile, fertile.”  
As they struggled through the cave, finding their way into the sheer openness of this place, Sessions caught up with TJ like some kid looking for trouble on the school grounds. It really chapped his hide to deal with military people like this.  
“You have a lot of hero worship for your friend,” Sessions said.  
“She is a great person. She saves lives. It's what she does,” TJ said.  
“That sort of can get you killed,” Sessions said. “”You follow your savior anywhere. She even gave you a nickname. TJ.”  
“Those initials are derived from my real name. Tao Jiang-Li. My last name means beautiful river.”  
“That's a name for a poof. I would have changed my name immediately.”  
“You don't make very many friends, do you?”  
Sessions said, “You'll walk with her to your death. That much I can guess. Me? I'm a survivor.”  
“Tell that to the rest of the soldiers,” TJ said.  
“Don't drag their names through the mud!” Sessions snarled. “They deserve better.”  
“Shhh! Shhhhhh!” the Doctor blurted out. “No noise. Not even a whisper. Don't even stub your toe! This is the Oracle Gardens at last!”  
“What are you talking about—?”  
As TJ caught the commander in mid-sentence, covering his mouth, they caught sight of something else in those rich, sprawling gardens which grew patient in its magnificence. It was a tall beauty.  
Yet, in the middle of this cosmic potting shed, reaching in its divine abode, there was something penetrating the depths in beauty here. This creeping figure appeared in the ocean of flowers, a shrouded beast whose rags hanged like shredded death. 

STARLIGHT PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION  
Chapter nineteen  
There was nothing the Doctor could do for the woman inside the cage, and their animosity towards each other was a constant reminder. Nothing could make things right between them. Why was the Doctor here? Soreen was a lost cause.  
The Doctor spoke the truth regarding Soreen's ailing health which was like a growing cancer. Her soul was weakening under the madness she went through.  
Her madness was working through Soreen which acted as the catalyst. The storm of the poor health was leaking into this reality through her. This mental hold she had.  
There was a darkness which hid in her thoughts for too long. The longer the madness stayed In her mind, the more it would feed on her. It would penetrate her thoughts like fingers of greed. This mind asylum was a sickness. And Soreen was affected.  
The past was always a sickness.  
“I don't believe you,” Soreen said. “You left me here to rot. You always move on while some of us don't.”  
“I care enough,” the Doctor said. “That's why you're here.”  
“In this prison? You put me together with the worst of the lot. Do you think so little of me?”  
“I'm doing my best to help you with your current struggles. The healing process. And now this little thing with your health...”  
“You never bother to check up on me while you whisk away in your magical box. How do you think I feel?”  
“I would never abandon you.”  
“How is your new companion?” Soreen said. “I heard he's a Chinese archer from ancient times.”  
“Now is not the time for this,” the Doctor snapped.  
“You seem to find a replacement pretty fast.”  
“Shhh! SHHH!”  
“The voices,” Soreen said. “They're coming.”  
Collecting herself, lifting with a height of concern, the Doctor looked over to the end of the hall before pivoting on her boots. The Doctor rechecked the other side with growing suspicion. It was nothing.  
The Doctor felt a twisting in her stomach when things were not right. It was a pegging itch she often got when she felt there was trouble brewing. Her eyes narrowed like dark cauldrons.  
Could a madness be contagious? Could something that made Soreen mentally ill be affecting others? It's something the Doctor didn't like to mull over. A mental illness that could leap from one mind to the next.  
This madness needed to stop. The Doctor lifted her hand to rub the back of her neck while something irrevocable cut at her thoughts. Soreen stood like someone pouting in her room. She hated being left out.  
Was it death here? Or something worse? There was a reflection of immortality in the Doctor's eyes, but the rest of her looked like a forest of age. They were old eyes.  
“What is it?” Soreen said.  
“There's something wrong,” the Doctor said. “I hear something. Sounds like someone dropping a cup.”  
“You're having the madness too,” Soreen piped.  
“It's all a matter of the mind,” the Doctor chirped.  
“It's always quiet here,” Soreen said. “Except in my head.”  
“Nothing else. I don't like this. It feels like this place is empty. The halls. The doors. The rooms.”  
“the voices. They're coming. They're here,” Soreen said. “They're my friends.”  
“Ghost stories. Nothing more. It's your mental bridge that is giving this madness a door to your reality.”  
Now the Doctor looked at Soreen through the window-like frame while she saw her friend growing giddy like a child holding a surprise gift. Her eyes became dots of fury while she cracked that whip of vengeance.  
“I have to bring you back to the living,” the Doctor said to her friend. “I can do it with this flower I brought with me. From a far away place.”

THE PHANTOM PLANET  
Chapter twenty  
Beneath the wooden stairway of trees, where the shuttered patches seemed to fill with a burden of life, the pair of soldiers remained huddled in their hiding spot.  
Their faces looked out from under the narrow ledges of the descending branches, though DeVos fixed himself to get a better view of the area. It was getting too difficult to see through the tufts of grass.  
There was something else here. The brush of wind died down while the idle breath of the woods softened to a haggard sigh.  
“You could have picked a better spot!” Ryan muttered.  
“It's the only spot I know!” DeVos said.  
“I feel like a mangy mutt sitting here.”  
“You're gong to sit here longer. Or would you rather sit outside?”  
“It's cold, damp and useless here!” Ryan growled.  
“Shhhh!”  
DeVos hushed him as he huddled closer to him while pointing his finger. They were hiding as if Santa Claus was going to come down the chimney and spread the Christmas cheer, but this was nothing of the sort. This was different. More frightening. Not cheerful at all.  
The mired figure penetrated the grounds before them with dragging footsteps. Ryan nodded to his friend while he watched in silence. His hand lifted over his mouth to not make noise.  
The soldiers watched the legion of creatures appearing like stalking groundskeepers. One stepped near the side of the ruins as its naked toes crushed the tufts of grass where it walked towards High Scar Hill. Or, at least, that's what Ryan called it.  
Just like he gave the name of “administrators” which he would regret later on.  
They made deft, slumping movements, twitching with contortions, sifting in its disjointed movements. Crawling, strolling, it shifted forward with a waking nightmare while the kids watched from under the steps.  
They heard the ghastly mutterings as if the creatures were talking to each other. It was the communication of death, their hanging forms skirting along the trees in an abundance of horror.  
The old ruins stood in the middle of a sea of ghosts. The administrators moved around like a working hunger as their forms strolled through the grass, parading through the forest like sharks in a kettle. Their faces still hidden by the hanging sheet of midnight hair.  
“I think the coast is clear,” DeVos said.  
“The Doctor is probably dead,” Ryan said.  
“We need to help her. She might still have a chance.”  
“You're crazy to go into the old ruins! This place is in the middle of all the troubles!”  
“I'm not leaving her! Or Sessions! Or Bannon!”  
“You're rushing into a trap.”  
“I'm going in there! All you have to do is climb over the ledge and run up into the gates.”  
“You might make things worse! Don't you want to live and be an artist when you leave the corps? Or an art teacher?”  
“I can't believe you mean that. I'm going now!” DeVos muttered.  
“Stop! Don't go, please. It's too deadly!”  
With a cautious stir, moving out like a cat in stealth, DeVos remained in the hiding spot from under the perched branches. He settled in the grove without going.  
Keeping to the woods, it welcomed the newcomers to a draft of dreadful air which soaked the mood. Cradled between the grove of trees and the shower of vines was a flicker of darkness. The administrators.  
The investigators noticed the note of sterile cleanliness which made them think of a hospital. There seemed to be a sickening slosh of chlorine in the area which hammered their senses.  
Staying in the grove without moving, Ryan hooked his gun between his legs while looking over it. Making theatrical sweeps, Ryan was sure the gun was loaded like a champ. He looked through the drab forest which stretched through like a long hallway. It seemed restless here. Cramped.  
Nothing.  
Nothing could be found here.  
“Be careful,” Ryan said. “I think they might be lure us out.”  
“You might be right,” DeVos whispered.  
Cocking his head slightly, Ryan could hear someone, or something, approaching. It sounded like a screeching across the floor, a music of footsteps preying on the marble surface.  
Ryan hugged his back to the tree while setting himself aside, keeping himself out of sight. He motioned for the DeVos with a curt nod while he stood in the chartered grove without moving.  
Now the apparent intruder stepped through the cluttered trees before pouring over the fields. Ryan looked ready to pound the intruder's head with his gun, but DeVos shook his head while mouthing, “No!”  
There was no need. 

Part Three  
Chapter twenty-one  
The Doctor watched it skulk through the garden.  
It drifted through the flowers with sweeping, hodgepodged movements, a breathing entity in its oil-ebony features, moving like a demon would in its own Shangri-la, protecting it, guarding. This figure shifted through transfer, popping up in and out of the garden with the speed of thought.  
That charcoal-churned beast stepped through the cradle of colors that was the garden—it had a beak like a bird while its head remained hidden from the billowy hood. It was the blackest thing one could imagine, snuffing out light like a storm—it was a shadow dragging through paradise.  
Such a place was a remarkable feat in growing, learning, this ascending series of terraced gardens pertaining to the gallery of endless trees, shrubs, and vines. It was a green mountain of beautiful growth.  
That foetid monster was not an administrator, but something else: a hulking, feeding thing. It was a thing that had lost his mind. This was a ripper who stepped through the seven circles of bliss. It was the Sleeper.  
The Doctor signaled for the others to fall back, and TJ pulled Sessions towards the edges of the garden. Bannon didn't argue as he moved with sure silence. That strange creature blinked in and out like snapshot photos.  
Unrestrained, devoid of beauty, it was like a moving casket with chipped corners and old shells. It was much taller like a living skyscraper while it caught hold of the Doctor with its hands.  
Its bold fingers collected around the Doctor's skull, planting its hand over her head—her entire body ached with a thousand pains while her lungs exploded with short breaths. What was happening here? Who was this new invader of the gardens?  
Sessions lifted the plasma rifle at the bird-like monster, shifting in darkness like an impossible thing. This guardian of the garden turned while cocking its head slightly like something interested in an insect it stepped on.  
No weapons are allowed here, little thing.  
Something caught Sessions as his hands were forced to drop the gun, being held by an unseen wrath. It held him against his own will as the penetrating fingers raked through his mind and gripped him like a spell caster. It was like being touched by death itself.  
Sessions could see memories of his dead soldiers in his mind while he tried to crack through the stifling hold. It was important to stay vital, alive, yet a shadow reeled over his mind. Shifting his eyes downward, he could still see his gun on the ground. Why couldn't he pick it up? Where was that voice coming from? 

Chapter twenty-two  
Now the bird-headed beast held the Doctor in captivity, keeping her inside the cage of his own thoughts, and the Time-Lord became immobilized by the greater threat of its crushing darkness, waking in power.  
Remaining in its calm stance, its eyes resembling dark roads, his face grew into a bottomless pit of old horror. However, the Doctor did not fight it. She couldn't. She was forced to welcome the darkness that slipped into her mind. How could something so bleak exist in paradise?  
You are here for the Gardens of the Oracle?  
“That is right,” the Doctor muttered.  
Very few, if any, comes here. This is a sacred place. It is sacrilege to come here.  
“I meant no harm...”  
The damage is done.  
“I'm here for the Walking Flower. I have a friend who is dying from an illness, and hope to help her revive. She is sick with madness. Her name is Soreen Blackwood.”  
You speak the truth.  
“I have no other reason to be here,” the Doctor whispered. “I only wish to pluck the one flower and leave these gentle terraces.”  
You grace these gardens with excellent truth.  
“I am the Doctor.”  
I know of you. This is why I am willing you inside the Gardens of the Oracle. You have saved millions of souls.  
“I'm glad someone appreciates it.”  
Also you are the bringer of death. You are the eye of the storm. Yet you still have not opened the doorway to the gods where you belong. You are welcome to the gardens, Time-Lord. You are allowed a single flower.  
“Thank you,” the Doctor said.  
I have studied your machine. Your technology is simple.  
“Simple! Simple?”  
You have used your sonic device which is allowed here, Time-Lord. Very primitive.  
“Primitive? It's the state of the art!”  
Where are the Time-Lords now? They are no longer part of this universe. Your civilization simple. Still progressing...  
“They went through a terrible war.”  
Your civilization still needs to develop. War still lingers in your thoughts.  
“I know.”  
Such as you. With the thoughts of the Battle of Scorosos still inside your mind like a fire. I could heal your mind...  
“I'll pretend you didn't mention it,” the Doctor said.  
That incident is like an echo in the universe. There are still parts of the universe affected by it.  
“I would advise you not to talk about it again,” the Doctor quipped.  
Your past catches up with you. It is a flood of sadness.  
“If you can read this far into my mind, you are very powerful,” the Doctor said. “But I'll find my own way regarding Scorosos.”  
Your intentions are indeed good, but your past is a checkered one. You are a blight. You are a savage. Pick the one flower and be gone.  
“I apologize for the transgression of the gardens,” the Doctor said.  
You will go. Take the others with you when you leave. That is all. 

Chapter twenty-three  
As the Doctor was released by the monster's hold, she almost stumbled to the ground. That Sleeper remained standing like a tower in the season of flowers. It looked more like a scarecrow with its hanging clothes, twisting between the trees with a rising coat of darkness.  
Somehow, it looked very sad as the guardian of the garden stood with its endless stare from the hollowed face. The Doctor almost fell to the dirt while she struggled to stay on her feet.  
Going through that entire conversation with a god was like being a ping-pong in a thought machine. Talking to it was a choking experience. Seeing the others were ready to enter the garden, the Doctor signaled her hand to stop them.  
“No!” the Doctor cried out. “Don't come into the gardens. I've just been granted permission by the Sleeper to go inside, but I advise you all to hold back...”  
“Sleeper?” TJ said. “Is that the creature's name?”  
“As far I can tell, yes,” then Doctor said.  
“What happened?”  
“So powerful. So old. Something tapped into my mind and I could speak to him. I believe the Sleeper is also part of the planet. I think I had a direct link to the planet itself.”  
“You communicate with that thing?” Sessions said. “Why did it kill my people?”  
“Don't provoke it!” the Doctor said. “We're lucky we got this far!”  
“That thing,” Sessions barked. “Is that what it looks like?”  
My true nature would be too complex for your minds. I chose a symbol and a shape so your minds will understand in this shared reality.  
“You killed my people!”  
Such is the cycle of life. They are not dead. They have been converted into star dust. Everything is dust in the universe.  
“That doesn't make any damn sense. Why are you so dark?”  
Without the dark, there is no light. That is a concept your minds will not comprehend for so many centuries. It is a difficult notion. I have been in existence since the beginning of civilization.  
“Impossible,” Sessions said.  
“Why don't you listen to the Doctor for once?” TJ said. “Just leave it alone.”  
“Don't bother me,” Sessions snarled. “I know what I'm doing.”  
However, the Doctor combed through the gardens while noting the wondrous element of the circling community of the kingdom grounds. Her footsteps collected near the next cluster of flowers. There were so many of them.  
Crouching down on the ground, realizing the world at her fingertips, the Doctor recalibrated the sonic screwdriver in hopes of tracking down the right flower. The Walking Flower.  
She checked the vitals of the flower standing before her, exploring the medical elements, hoping to conclude her affair here. Her hand reached out for the violet flower which was pretty as seven sunsets. This particular flora suggested the health of the universe.  
The flower seemed to speak to her.  
It was the right flower. 

ELSEWHERE IN THE MIND'S EYE  
Chapter twenty-four  
The madness was always with her.  
The madness.  
Soreen found herself in the cradle of the fields between the toothy forest surrounding this peaceful scene. Was that foxhole here before? She didn't remember from the last time.  
She needed to be careful where she stepped, and yet it seemed too idyllic with the soothing hills and the blissful green. Soreen knew this was the paradise she longed for.  
It was good here, wasn't it? This place would adhere to the Feng Shui as the grounds found its symphony. The birds would sing in the skies. A painter would find inspiration here in this place of colors.  
As Soreen weaved between the grassy knolls like someone who found her paradise, she found it was a good place. She wanted to be here forever while something filled the hollow of her chest. It was fear.  
She knew what place this was. It was familiar to her with every hook and cranny being the setting for the Phantom Planet. Somehow it was taking her back here.  
Where were all the voices? Where were all the ghosts? There was nothing here except for her who walked through the marvel in green. She watched the echoes of sunlight twinkling in gentle splashes.  
There was only the call to serenity. And nothing else. Soreen could feel the explosion in her head. Something clutched in her stomach like a sickness. What was it?  
“Where were you, my beloved,” Soreen said. “I missed you dearly.”  
Nothing answered her while she ushered her way into the fields. Her footsteps grew heavy while her face tightened in the passing wind. Soreen spotted a lovely flower which was tainted like a lipstick red color. Where did it come from?  
Crouching on her legs, dipping her hands below, Soreen skirted the petals with her brushing fingers. It was the softness of summer as she wondered at the beauty of this single tulip. She plucked the flower from the ground with hopes of taking the beauty home.  
The darkness came.  
Falling shadows trampled the ground where the fields shuffled with a nervous twitch. Somehow the darkness was eating away paradise with the spread of this evil. The forest turned into a dungheap while the skies changed into a storm of old gray, becoming a gulf of nothing. It was the tragedy of this paradise. It became a dripping darkness.  
She could see the shadows coming to her like ghoulish friends. Their thin features looked with the sorrow of the damned. Their festive forms cobbled together like a grinning plague. Their faces resembled skulls.  
Soreen felt the company of shadows. It was a good thing. She didn't run from them. Not like the Doctor was always running. Not Soreen who welcomed the dark. Her thoughts were gentle while she looked through the fractured mirror of this place. She was looking for a piece of herself.  
The rift grew bigger.  
And it swallowed her.  
Now the captivity of darkness poured like a waking beast. The sloshing blackness was a crude blot-out while the whispers of nothing filled with a foreign horror.  
With a blinding rampage, Soreen found the dark place cast with a sinister aura. She watched the fog-drenched seams of penetrating shades, like whirling waves, shuffled around her like twisting bogeymen. There was only the darkness in deceit calling out to her.  
Luring her, hearing the cawing of filth in the world shaping around her like a sickness, the intruder moved. Soreen's brow beaded with sweat as she moved through the ocean spill of more darkness. Was that the washing of evil splitting the wall with a determined, and horrifying, grin?  
Now her dire form shifted between the seething blackness like a fool man going through an unlit building. She saw shapes flitting in the dark and taking form, and felt like a rude passenger darting into the nether regions.  
Something else happened which didn't make sense, and the bleeding red coughed into the darkness. It stilled Soreen as she felt caught between the prison of darkness and the world which laid ahead. The idle moments of dread held her.  
“Soon, Doctor, soon,” the demon creature said.  
“Who are you?” Soreen said.  
“Oh, I'm not trading secrets yet, but we've met before.”  
“Are you the one making me sick?”  
“Ha ha ha.”  
Her welcoming guest did, indeed, have the splendid fingers and the pendulum-like goatee slicked with oily glee. Of course, there was the long-blue features which dragged with a complimentary ease.  
He stepped towards her with a devilish figure, his features twisting into a merciful grin. It looked like a maze of biting teeth and hunger tongue slipping into a knot of desire. His shackles of limbs were too thin, his hands like nooses to hang souls with. Was he the destroyer of souls or some foolish fictional character pretending? The demon laughed at Soreen.  
“I don't know what you're talking about,” Soreen said. “Your scare tactics don't frighten me.”  
“We have been living in the walls for so long now,” the demon said. “You brought us to life.”  
“Yes?” Soreen said.  
“It was you who opened the doors to us. We followed your thoughts here. You lured us back.”  
“I want you to do something.”  
“What is it?”  
“Kill the Doctor. Kill her. Make sure she never sets foot in this place again.”  
Soreen halted for a moment before pushing her hands against the thriving darkness around her, and she made herself push harder. Her crunching knuckles cracked with strength when she pushed with all the strength she had.  
She made the brave efforts in cutting through the great gulfs in front of her. There was nothing, and more nothing. She began to fall through the nothingness that laughed at her.  
The madness followed her.  
Always. 

THE PHANTOM PLANET  
Chapter twenty-five  
Turning around, he could see the sight of movement approaching down the bigger forest path. His heart stopped with a clipped fear while his hands froze in their delicate nature. DeVos was going to make sure the Ryan owed him for doing something so foolish.  
Now the flitting, gliding shades of darkness poured over the ground with a visible glare. It was like seeing shadows dancing with hate. DeVos felt a little sick being in the forest.  
“Damn,” DeVos said.  
Now the ghosts with the long hair, and dainty faces, sifted down the forest while their fingers hanged. They moved like sailing boats across the ocean while their outlines remained in the dark. Their collective shadows passed the alcove.  
The administrators.  
So many of them.  
For a brief moment, distracted, one of the administrators stopped in his tracks while the sinking beauty of bewitching features hanged for a moment. Foreboding sadness became replaced by fierce anger.  
“Don't say anything,” Ryan said. “Don't whisper.”  
“Easy for you to say,” DeVos said.  
“How do they find us?”  
“Maybe they're blind, but they could be sensing us? Remember what the Doctor said about the white corpuscles?”  
“Yeah, yeah. Don't attack them.”  
Its screeching sound came from the very pits of its cursed soul. It hanged for a moment while looking down the tree alcove. What was it waiting for? Its frame remained while the needling arms lifted with impatience.  
Finally, after a few moments of craning its neck, the creature joined its brothers down the forest deep with the high-pitched trees of the the chocking abyss. The ghostly administrator moved again.  
“That was close,” DeVos said as he blew out his breath.  
“Yeah,” Ryan agreed.  
His hands folded around the treebranch while he dragged the vines along his side. That rickety shrubbery was his constant companion. He hated so much green here.  
He watched the forest ahead of him flicker with lights spacing out in a fit and the collective shadows shifting around the corner in spidery movements. Stretching shapes etched into menace once again.  
A nervous twitch hit him as he seated himself along with the grove, a trees and several leafy dollies. The repugnant smell of cleanliness was enough to stifle him. DeVos looked nervous as hell.  
He remained in the forest.  
Not moving.  
DeVos let his thoughts linger for a moment as he receded further into the cluster of trees until his back hugged the bigger tree. His thoughts didn't turn to the divine to ask for forgiveness, but something help. Ryan watched like a nervous wreck while holding the plasma gun.  
“I'm sorry, Donnie, I wish I could find you,” DeVos said.  
“What did you say?” Ryan said.  
“Never mind.”  
They watched the shadows playing in the latticed space beneath like a trampling effect. It was a flicking as if something moved by the trees with a slow, gliding diversion. This became a ghostly campaign with the intruders invading the hallways. Ryan was growing sick at the sight while the administrators shuffled closer  
The long shadows moved closer as DeVos braced himself for the worst, and his hands bunched together into fists. Something passed over with an odd fluxing until...  
Until... 

Chapter twenty-six  
As the Doctor was ready to pluck the flower, setting her mind to task, she could see the Sleeper nodding to her in approval. She didn't mean to dangle for so long or dally like a lost child, but this place was so beautiful.  
Once the Doctor took the flower, holding it like a trophy, she felt relieved the whole thing was done. Growing very weary, not wanting to slip into a stupor, the Doctor needed to leave this place the same way she came: in perfect peace. Something like waves tugged at her across the garden.  
However, sensing something was wrong, the Doctor looked behind her while holding the Walking Flower. She watched Sessions taking one step into the garden for a piece of the action. Never listening.  
“No!” the Doctor shouted.  
The bird-like Sleeper, whittling away like a page of horror, appeared before Sessions in a dark-faced gloom, making the commander's stomach churned as he was held fast in its thought grip.  
Now the Sleeper grabbed his head with its massive fingers, holding him like one would a bowling ball, and the persisting force became a height of horror thrusting over him. Sessions felt the Sleeper needling between his thoughts like a leech, but he hoped to reserve his strength through his anger.  
Your intentions are NOT pure! Your goal is to bring more men here. To destroy the gardens! You are a menace!  
“This place is a paradise!” Sessions grumbled. “You owe us that much after taking so many of my men!”  
You do not belong!  
“Let him go!” Bannon snapped.  
As he pointed his gun to the ragged beast, toiling in shadows, he felt some diverting force made his gun heavy. Somehow Bannon felt like he was sinking into the trough while his breathing was growing harsh.  
Bannon dropped the plasma gun as the Sleeper continued to hold Sessions with his hands to the man's head. The Sleeper slipped his fingers into the moments of the man's mind.  
You and others will come to destroy the gardens! Destroy!  
“Stop reading my mind!”  
You already destroyed your planet Earth and now you wish to do the same here!  
“We went through a lot to get here,” Sessions regaled. “Now I'm planning to take something back with me! My soldiers deserve better!”  
You bring war. You want profits. You want to create wealth by feeding off the sick! You are not allowed here!  
The Sleeper looked like shackles of darkness, lifting into a colony of shadows, growing bigger, stronger. It became something with wings... something dark. It turned into a nightmare of a thousand horrors. It was a monster climbing out of the now derogatory gardens.  
Sessions twisted himself from the embrace of darkness while it stretched like a giant sponge across the pearly gardens. While Sessions slipped to the ground, with grabby hands, he snatched back his rifle.  
TJ bolted from the unending darkness which sought to take their lives. Falling into a rhythm, cranking high, TJ ran from the coughing storm of blackness which moved like a plague. 

STARLIGHT PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION  
Chapter twenty-seven  
Down in the hallway, in the tricking lights which littered the walls, there grew a clutter of noises which shuffled closer. Their footsteps could be heard swallowing up the narrow spaces. Was the Doctor going mad too?  
The Doctor could hear Soreen’s humming which caused her to work faster. It was a dallying song which picked at the air with the strange singing. It was like Soreen was singing to the darkness. Or, perhaps, the voices in her head. It became a happy ditty as Soreen made sweeping footsteps on the floor. She was enjoying her tune while the Doctor did not. It made her think of the worst things in life.  
The Doctor continued her work on the contraption, sewing together the hodgepodge of wires, fixing the machinery with greater focus. She went through a clockwork of movements.  
Soreen was circling around in er cage now while the Doctor remained in place in the hallways, though guilt seemed to be hanging on her like a great authority. She knew Soreen was teasing her like a Lon Chaney grinning at her sudden plight.  
“I’ll give you a chance to surrender,” the Doctor barked.  
“You’re bluffing,” Soreen said. “I know you too well.”  
“It’s not too late to back down,” the Doctor replied.  
“Do you think I’m a fool?”  
“Never a fool. Just someone who lost her way,” the Doctor said.  
“Open the doors to your mind,” Soreen ordered.  
“Tell your friends to surrender. Don't listen to the voices in your head.”  
“Why?” Soreen said. “I want to be released from my cage so I can come out to play. Don’t you want to play?’  
“No. I’m too old to play.”  
“You’re always controlling,” Soreen snapped. “The Time-Lord who must have it her way or no way at all. You can’t stand things not being in your control. I’ve seen it. You’re a control freak.”  
“That’s enough! It's you,” the Doctor said. “Something is making you like this. I can help you through this.”  
“That is most expected,” Soreen said.  
“Something is holding you here, something triggered inside you. This madness created some sort of hold on you. It weakens you, following you. It is my fault you're like this. It's like you opened the door to them, and the voices followed you.”  
“What if I like the voices?” Soreen said.  
“The voices. It's a madness. It's real because you believe in it. Your thoughts are your own! It's a living thing. It's feeding off you. You can stop the voices! You can end this nightmare!”  
“You won't shut me down. Not ever...”  
“Make the madness stop. Send it back,” the Doctor ordered. “You're making a mistake! It's becoming a part of you! It's going to take over you! All the hate! The rage! You need to stop it!”  
“Kill you! KILL YOU!” Soreen said. “I’m tired of being in the Doctor’s shadow for so long. Kill her. And I want kill that annoying Cekuk too! I’m sick of him barking orders!”  
“Stop listening to those voices in your head,” the Doctor pleaded. “And start listening to your own. Do you remember? I can help you.”  
“You’re the last person I want to get help from!” Soreen snapped. “I want you dead! I want you to crawl on your knees and beg for mercy!”  
“Sorry, but I still have my pride,” the Doctor said. “And my wit.”  
“Kill! Kill you! Kill her you!” Soreen said.  
Her madness began to pound on her doors while crowding the entrance with swipes, cuts, their shrieks wailing. It was a darkness filling her mind. This hunger fixed on Soreen inside the room.  
Breaking through the doors of her mind, peeling it under the constant, throbbing attacks, the madness punctured through her mind with twisting, raking hate. It moved with terrible momentum. The insanity was like living beasts of horror.  
It looked like shadows trickling through the walls, blurs of movement, stretching like echoes. Their pervading forms circled around the Doctor as they tightened their grips on her.  
There was more of the madness! The sickness flooded her mind with a supernatural force. Somehow Soreen was channeling her thoughts through her madness. Her influence was strong.  
Now the Doctor continued to stand while the next wave of madness choked her with cold, thrashing fingers. She still had the flower with her, the only thing that could heal her friend's sickness.  
The madness moved towards the Doctor while she struggled, and it was choking her like a devil's legion. It was ghosts of the mind. Too pervasive. Too strong. It was endless. 

THE PHANTOM PLANET  
Chapter twenty-eight  
Everyone was splitting up under the crushing tirade of shadows. There was no way to understand the tangled dancing of darkness here, this ballerina of horror taking place  
Some ran. Some were frightened. That totem of darkness, being the Sleeper, now woke to its purpose, shuffling after the soldiers while the Doctor and TJ joined them in the maddening dash.  
She still held the Walking Flower in the cradle of her gentle hands while the winds of darkness followed their footsteps. The mind could only become dull trying to understand its presence. The Doctor felt both of her hearts leap in her chest as she fell into a stampede of running.  
You lie! All of you lie! You bring death and destruction to this world. You will be crushed!  
“I know the way to the TARDIS!” the Doctor shouted to the others. “I learned of its whereabouts while I spoke with the Sleeper. Such a powerful mind!”  
“Take us to the TARDIS!” TJ snapped.  
“What do you think I'm doing?” the Doctor shot back.  
“What is that thing?” Sessions cried out.  
“That is one of the oldest beings in the universe!” the Doctor said. “And you pissed it off!”  
I am known as the God of the Earth! I am the Consciousness! I am the Faerie King! I am the Eternal!  
“Keep running!” TJ shouted.  
I am the Raven! I am the Cyttorak! Cerebus! Kraken! Cthulhu! The Mirror! The Shadespectre!  
“Are you lost?” TJ shouted.  
“Lost? I'm never, ever lost!” the Doctor shouted.  
“Try telling that to yourself sometimes!”  
“Stop dallying!”  
The soldiers and TJ followed the Doctor out of the Oracle Gardens while their thrashing footsteps thundered down the tunnels like fools in a maze. Through the next cave. And the next!  
All the while the darkness raced after them as this Lovecraftian horror snapped towards them like some unknown void. The Doctor ran furthest and fastest, her jutting frame cutting into the next tunnel.  
There!  
The TARDIS!  
It stood at the end of the rock-sludge of the tunnel, sitting majestically, while the Doctor moved in haste as she produced the key. It was a juggling act toiling with the flower in her hand.  
Shifting against the TARDIS, her mind flooding with escape, she struggled to unlock the twin doors while the rickety blue box looked distressed like a broken beacon of light.  
Her fingers battled the key as she put it in with a slipping, sliding motion, turning it with a flip. She kicked the doors in while the others stormed into the TARDIS like an overbearing crowd. The Doctor could still feel the phantom of darkness still coiling behind them like a savage beast. 

Chapter twenty-nine  
Scrambling into the world of science while stumbling with confusion, the soldiers felt even more lost in the civilized design or something greater that made them small.  
The Doctor looked like a Spanish matador while working on the main console, holding the dainty flower in her lips. TJ grabbed the flower from her mouth as she struggled with flying the TARDIS from this place, always being met with an outrageous tackle in time and space.  
Shutting the door behind her, the Doctor skirted around the console with a frantic spur. She played her hands over the console while TJ held the flower in her mouth, placing it in a glass jar.  
Bannon looked around at the gothic treasure of walls which surrounded this pilot's seat. His face fell into wonder, then confusion.  
“Don't say a word!” TJ snapped.  
“I... I don't know...” Bannon began.  
“The Doctor will get us out of here! I hope!” TJ said.  
“It's your fault stepping into the garden! Such a fool!” the Doctor said to the commander. “You should never have done that!”  
“Just get out of here, magician!” Sessions said. “We'll argue later!”  
“Sound advice for once! Commencing travel now!” the Doctor shouted as she worked the controls like a navigator.  
“What was that thing out there?” Sessions said.  
“In your words? It is the heart, the lifeline of the planet. It is the stuff that nightmares are made of!”  
As the Doctor threw her hands over the switches, pulling and thrusting, she grazed the controls with an anxiety attack. The engines of the TARDIS grew into a booming, thrusting shout which filled the gothic halls.  
Behind her, the TARDIS rippled with the most sophisticated mechanisms. It became a whirlwind of cosmic noises while narrowly escaping the cloud of darkness out there. Where would it jump to next?  
The Doctor continued to lecture, “The Sleeper out there is older and more powerful than anything I've encountered. I'm a tiny speck compared to that creature!”  
“Creature?” Sessions said.  
“The whole planet is a living thing! And it's after us!”  
“I think I'm going to lose my lunch!” TJ blurted out.  
“Me too!” Bannon said.  
“I still have one more trick up my sleeve,” the Doctor said. “I know where your soldiers are!”

Part Four  
Chapter thirty  
In the middle of the curling forest, something happened. It became darker, more intrusive as the planet shrugged. Ryan felt the coldness of the blight wrapping around the trees like a searching sickness.  
His eyes caught sight of the movement while the crowd of horror, stretching back and forth, spilled from the ruins. It made the administrators crazy with a blood-lust, disjointed, broken. It was like a call from the grave.  
DeVos gripped his friend by the arm, clutching with fright, while they could see the forest stitched with new life, coiling like a death's hand. There were movements. There was thunder. There were quakes. DeVos tried to keep himself on the ground while the world rocked with anger.  
“What happened?” DeVos snapped.  
“i don't know,” Ryan said. “Seems like everything was calm.”  
DeVos cried out, “It's begun again! It's like this planet has gone angry! Why doesn't it stop!”  
“Get a hold of yourself!”  
“We might not survive another attack!”  
“Stop talking like that,” Ryan barked.  
“You can feel its breath at your feet!” DeVos snapped. “The planet is going to swallow us whole!”  
“Shut up!”  
As Ryan and DeVos cobbled together, fighting against this throne of evil, they could see the endless administrators whirling around them like spirits of the damned, so hungry, so ghoulish.  
These things flitted between the trees with their hell-bound shrieks, lurching towards them with a purposeful stride. They were like demons crawling out from the mouth of hades itself.  
Ryan hoisted the plasma rifle with professional courtesy of a soldier, his heart banging like a hammer. His throat went dry as the jungles. He was going to go out like a solider, but wished the commander could see him now.  
Cobbling in the patch of trees, hiding from the darkness, DeVos did the same while checking the ammo make sure he was locked and loaded. There were those monsters needling between the trees with hands like fish hooks. They were going to tear his eyes out. That blight was getting bigger like some nameless beast. His thoughts turned to Satan itself. Was he seeing the devil laughing at him? It tore through his ocean of thoughts like a goblin gritting its teeth.  
DeVos watched Ryan pointing the gun as DeVos checked and rechecked the chambers on his own gun. It was so stupid how many times he looked into the chambers to make sure the bullets were still there.  
“This is it,” Ryan grumbled. “It's good knowing you.”  
“I doubt it. You don't strike me as someone who cares,“ DeVos said.  
“It's better to fight on your feet rather than laying down doing nothing!”  
“Since when did you find courage?” DeVos said.  
“Since now!”  
As Ryan and DeVos flinched from the reckless cloud of administrators, ready to pounce on the helpless soldiers, something made a noise between them. It was a wheezing and whooshing sound which poured like thunder in the cracks of silence.  
It sounded like hope.  
A blue box, with its giant walls from the inside, formed around the soldiers like a safe refuge. The friendly words chiseled above the doors stated: Police Public Call Box. What was this thing? Was it a ship? Was the police coming to their rescue?  
Now the shouting winds flung around the soldiers as it was mothering them with its protective wings, being an outer blue hull. This flying box came to them like a shining knight in blue armor. That wonderful box of mystery shrouded them like a mother hen.  
Baffled, angry, the administrators halted for a moment before attacking again. It was only a momentary pause before the Sleeper joined them in its assault on the TARDIS.  
Shuffling, splitting, the administrators raced around the blue box like dark curtains, penetrating the pockets of forest. Their voices grew into a constant howling which ringed with madness.  
Yet the Sleeper draped its poetry of darkness through the forest while daggers of howling chipped away at the blue exterior. Their hands raked at the hull as like monsters on the loose.  
And soon the TARDIS was gone.  
It was running again across the cosmos.

Chapter thirty-one  
With the shouting, growling noise, something else came to the near-fallen soldiers in the forest. It was like breeze winds of a hurricane rushing around them as Ryan watched a box appear around him.  
Seeing the luxury box forming, creating surroundings, Ryan thought he must be going crazy. What could he see? More strange, gothic walls? Furniture? It made no sense to him. Some idle hope was dancing in his thoughts.  
Now the giant box, like a control room, surrounded him while his mind was slipping. What was going on here? Ryan was afraid to close his eyes and everything would disappear. It must be a mirage! It had to be!  
He saw commander Sessions in a reunion with DeVos, exchanging cheers and greetings. There was Bannon looking like a quiet statue as always, never blinking with his dark stare. Inside the giant room was the Doctor stirring in a chorus of movements while TJ remained at her side.  
Ryan could no longer see the administrators rushing at him... maybe it was some dream. No doubt Ryan felt confusion hanging in his thoughts while he held the plasma gun. He was still on duty.  
“At ease, soldier!” Sessions said. “You're safe now! You too, DeVos!”  
“What is this?” Ryan said.  
“It's the Doctor. She's going to pull us all out of this place! We're going to get out of here!”  
“I saw those things attacking us!” Ryan said.  
“Must be a few hundred!” DeVos added.  
“Hold on to something!” TJ remarked. “This is going to be rough!”  
“Too right!” the Doctor piped.  
“I'm gong to be sick!” the Chinese man piped.  
“Me too!” Ryan cried out.  
“Don't... just don't!” the Doctor scowled.  
“Three things to remember,” TJ began. “One, it's bigger on the inside. Two, it travels in space and time. Three, it's everyone's best friend!”  
“Does it have any weapons?” Ryan cried out.  
“No, it doesn't!” the Doctor said. “But it makes the best escape plan on this side of Harry Houdini!”  
“You're some sort of cosmic magician?” Sessions said.  
“Something like that!” the Doctor said. 

Chapter thirty-two  
There became a loud howling as several intruders bashed at the hull of the TARDIS with derangement syndrome. They raked and scratched at the outside like a reckless storm—bold, wild, like rippers of night.  
They continued their tirade at the TARDIS much harder while the Doctor threw more switches in the midst of the troubles. Soaring with extra haste, the Doctor fell into a music of movements.  
There stood that strange machine which resembled an hexagonal beast of metal where the column fell up and down in a cosmic roar. Ryan watched the buoyant, restless Doctor trying to get the TARDIS to leave like a ship departing from the ports. It was still anchored.  
So the TARDIS choked and clogged like a stuck machine, like a broken engine churning jerkily, still cradled in doubt. The Doctor did one last thing before taking flight, and she walloped the console with the flat of her fist. Which sent the TARDIS moving.  
It made a confident rush while the rotary column shuffled in movement, leaving behind the gardens of paradise which seeped with imagination. The TARDIS settled on a route well away from this planet which became a faded memory.  
“Thank you for saving us,” Sessions said. “And my soldiers.”  
“First thing I'm doing is dropping you trigger-happy friends off,” the Doctor snapped. “I've had quite enough of soldiers for one day! I get enough of that from UNIT!”  
“And what of you?” Sessions asked.  
“I have to deliver a flower to someone I know,” the Doctor said. “The flower is enough to save her from dying. I owe Soreen that much.”  
“She must be pretty special to you for you to go at great lengths,” TJ said.  
“Yes, she is,” the Doctor muttered.

STARLIGHT PSYCHIATRIC INSTITUTION  
Chapter thirty-three  
It was the eyes. Those eyes filled with the cold beast of hell itself. So real. So restless. Such a living monstrosity lived in the echoes of Soreen's mind. The Doctor knew of the ghosts which lived in her friend's thoughts. They were true!  
The ghosts of her mind were real!  
And now they were dragging Soreen into darkness in which she belonged. Soreen felt the grip on her throat tightened. The deadness grew louder. Her body grew cold under the frantic hold of her madness. They couldn't be real, could they?  
“Mourning bistort corms, gathered on Sunday,” Soreen said.  
“That mental door won't hold it off for long,” the Doctor said. “You need to fight this madness.”  
“is there anything else I should know?” Soreen said.  
“It could kill you,” the Doctor said.  
“Smooth pondweed shoots, gathered on Wednesday. The voices. I can still hear them in my head. It's getting worse.”  
“I know. You'll be good as dead if you don't fight it.”  
“You're quick to judge. Maybe it's something I can live with.”  
“No, no. You'll slowly fall into a downward spiral. It'll keep dragging you until you're no longer able to function...”  
“I think this place is haunted,” Soreen admitted.  
“What a ridiculous notion. A haunted asylum?” the Doctor said.  
“I think they're ghosts showing up here and there. I don't always see them, but I can feel them getting closer. I can hear them.”  
“You're sure?”  
“It's nothing,” Soreen said. “It's nothing at all.”  
“Are you sure?” the Doctor said. “You look like you're struggling.”  
“You're right. It's the trick of the mind.”  
“We can still talk about this,” the Doctor muttered.  
“I prefer to see you dead...” Soreen said.  
“Well, I'm going to help you,” the Doctor said.  
“No, you're not.”  
“You have a chance to fight this. Here's a flower from a lost paradise. I have a flower with me which could bring you back to your senses.”  
“Could. Would. It doesn't matter.”  
“I want to help you despite everything,” the Doctor said.  
“You're being offered the guest of honor seat in this house.”  
“Your house is burning down,” the Doctor said.  
“And you'll go down with it,” Soreen said.  
“I'll help you remember some things. Do you see the coat I'm wearing? This a very special coat,” the Doctor said. “Janis Joplin gave me this coat!”  
“I don't remember...”  
“Couldn't forget this coat,” the Doctor said. “It's priceless. Janis Joplin would be proud to know I still take good care of it.”  
“Perennial aster stems, gathered in the winter,” Soreen said. “You can't help me.”  
“That remains to be seen. You've gone this far without knowing you could be dead?” the Doctor said.  
“It's a matter of perspective.”  
“Don't you feel the long aches? The hurt, the twist in both your heart? The passions of death kissing at your feet? Can you not feel the burning of your soul?”  
“Flowery poetry, nothing more,” Soreen said.  
“You want proof? Check your pulse. And check your breath. There's nothing. You're not even breathing. You're like a walking corpse wandering around.”  
“That's not true,” Soreen said. “None of it is true.”  
“This madness have lived since the beginning of time,” the Doctor said. “I have nothing to do with its making. I can help you fight it.”  
“It makes excellent company,” Soreen said. “It crawls out of the pits of fire and live in fear. My thoughts are always emissaries of nightmares. Beautiful, isn't it?  
“You always have a taste for the Grand Guignol,” the Doctor said.  
“It is such a lovely beasts my head. It lives in shadows, always hunting. They're not monsters like so many of us are led to believe because they do one thing that so many do: survive.”  
“Then fight it. FIGHT IT,” the Doctor barked.  
“I can't. Not anymore.”  
“Fight it!”  
“No!”  
“When you sleep, the nightmares won't be here anymore,” the Doctor explained. “The administrators will go away too.”  
“They're my voices! They belong to me! The voices!”  
“It'll be much easier when you're dormant,” the Doctor said.  
“No!” Soreen said while slipping. “I don't believe... you!”  
It looked like an infection of horror. Soreen felt the coldness of its fingers ringing around her thoughts, choking her, turning her soul into a see-saw of sickness. This thing was drinking her strength.  
Though Soreen tried to fight the monster, she felt the its presence tearing into his mind. It was like being held by a hundred scissors at once. Wrenching sobs slipped from her lips.  
She crumbled to the ground. 

Chapter thirty-four  
Soreen toppled to the floor like a crashing weight, rolling to her side. The woman laid in stillness while she knew calm for the first time since the attacks on her mind.  
As he stepped closer to the blocked door, like a hulking frame bundling with strength, Stykk tried to eased himself into a listening position. Pressed his ear to the door's surface. It felt like the building stopped beating its heart.  
He and TJ were in the hallway with the Doctor, but it was Stykk who had the right keys to the room. TJ accompanied Stykk while his big friend checked on the patient's health.  
“We've been monitoring your conversation with her,” Stykk said.  
“You know all about it?” the Doctor said.  
“We'll do what we can to nurse her back.”  
“Thank you,” the Doctor said. “It isn't her fault she's like this.”  
“I know,” Stykk grumbled.  
“You're all right?” TJ said.  
“I think so,” the Doctor said. “My mind's a bit of a jargon.”  
“We got here fast as we could when we heard Soreen's threats to you.”  
“Both of you?” the Doctor said.  
“I had to twist Stykk's arm a little bit to come along. I had to wear this visitor's badge for me to walk these halls.”  
There was a knock on the door while Stykk's breath blew out. Not a frantic, loud pounding, but a kind of knock you would expect to hear from your next-door neighbor. It was pleasant enough like a light tapping. He pushed the door open to Soreen's room while seeing her fallen body on the floor. 

Chapter thirty-five  
The Doctor stepped into the room too while it seemed strange to be no longer separated by this wall between them. The Doctor crouched down beside Soreen while Stykk administered a syringe to help Soreen calm down in the best manner.  
Setting her hand to the patient, the Doctor checked for her friend's pulse. The drug was enough to knock down an entire herd of elephants, and now Soreen was slipping between the cracks of sleep. Stumbling to her feet, regaining her balance, the Doctor guarded against any notes of sympathy. Soreen was still her foe here. She could not fall to any idea of friendship when so much was at stake. It could be so easy for Soreen to trick her here. Yet the dosage was running its course. The Doctor nodded her head while she offered a brooding smile.  
“Thank you for the timely intervention,” the Doctor said.  
“I wasn't sure if I was too late,” TJ said.  
“You did fine,” the Doctor said. “  
Soreen was falling into a longe sleep. It felt like everything faded away as if God himself decided to wipe reality away before starting over. Her thoughts were like ghosts returning to the past. Her mind saved.  
It would only take a few moments while the Doctor used the flower from paradise to revive her friend. Two drops from the Walking Flower was all it was needed to help Soreen.  
The Walking Flower.  
Paradise's gift.  
As the Doctor cut the flower with a little jab, letting the juices flow from the stem itself, the Doctor could see the flower sapping. She lifted the flower over Soreen's mouth while the drops fell.  
One. Two.  
That was it. 

Chapter thirty-six  
The Doctor pulled away the flower while Stykk crouched with her. His face grumbled like a man whose job was on the line. Soreen was sweeping between life and death here. No CPR was needed. No medicine was needed. The flower worked like magic.  
Her mind was slipping away once Soreen became a captive in her sleep. That separate reality fell away into nothing as the Doctor and others watched shuffle away without protest. There was a stillness.  
As Stykk stepped forward close enough, crouching low, Stykk gripped the syringe to pull away from Soreen. Someone stepped into the room when everything settled down. His face growled as he threw his fist into the flat of his palm to show he wasn't messing around.  
“Is she going to be all right?” Stykk said.  
“I think so,” the Doctor said.  
“It's touch and go there,” Stykk said.  
“Thank you for getting here,” the Doctor added.  
“Bravo,” TJ said.  
“We could use someone to help us clean up,” the Doctor said.  
“I guess I'm good for something,” Stykk grumbled.  
“Soreen still fighting it,” the Doctor said. “I'll need to do something else.”  
“It will be a long road for her,” TJ said. “One's health is a delicate thing.”  
“She's still mumbling,” the Doctor said. “I can still help Soreen.”  
“What is that flower?” Stykk grumbled.  
“It's the stock of life. The only thing that can help Soreen counter the sickness in her...”  
The Doctor's thoughts wrangled in her mind as if she was climbing up a mountain of ideas. Would she never make it to the top despite falling down? Would she still climb up that mountain no matter how many times she hit bottom?  
Her mind was like that: a struggling well. So much darkness swelled in that space in her thoughts. Sometimes she found herself facing the tragedies of her own past.  
“Empty promises,” Soreen mumbled.  
“You won't feel its effects anymore. You just need to get some sleep,” the Doctor said.  
“Go to hell.”  
“I've been there and back many times.”  
“If I see you again, I'll kill you...”  
“Harsh words, old friend.”  
As the Doctor pulled out pocket watch, she let it dangle from her hand like an expensive prop. She couldn't remember where she found this particular piece, but she guessed it was through a Victorian flea market.  
She steadied herself while her fingers let it sway from one side to the other in dancing motions. The Doctor swung the pocket watch as she mumbled a few words to Soreen.  
“Do you mind if I have a few private moments?” the Doctor said.  
“Sure,” Stykk said. “Seems like you know what you're doing. I still protest.”  
“I think we can sit this one out,” TJ said. “This is the part where it becomes existentialism.”  
“Hypnotism,” the Doctor said. “It's a delicate process.”  
“Sure,” TJ said.  
As the Doctor turned to Soreen who was still crumbled on the floor like a sleeping corpse, she held the pocket watch in her hand while getting ready for the battle of the mind.  
“Follow the watch,” the Doctor said. “Keep your eyes on it. Whatever you do, don't lose track of it. I'm going to make sure you never hear those voices again. Your mind is going to be whole once more. You are like the light tower on the shore. Strong and confident. Nothing can touch you while you hold off the voices...”  
“Yes,” Soreen said under the influence.  
“Remember that. You're the light tower. You will know peace like you've never had before. You can hear the steady waves slipping against the rocks on the shore. It's a beautiful sound.”  
Her friend went to sleep as her thoughts trailed off, and the Doctor caught the swinging pocket watch. She held the weight of it in the clutch of her hand while glaring at her friend now lost in that abyss. She continued to look at the sleeping beauty now trapped between reality and the dreams. The moments of time drifted off while she slipped into that eternity sleep, her features setting into a clam. The Doctor watched her friend becoming more quiet than the graveyard.  
“That should do it,” the Doctor said.

Chapter thirty-seven  
Soreen slept away like the princess in a fairy tale in her room. Was this truly the end for her? No one knew when she would come back to the land of the living. It could be two days for her or two years.  
Trapped between the hour of death and the difficulties of living, she was fixed in her own place in the story. Would a handsome prince ride along on his horse to this kingdom to give her a gentle kiss? Would he fright the dragons to revive her? Soreen's features were not so unpretty as her sunshine hair framed her face.  
The Doctor stood near the bedridden woman while Stykk hooked the sleeping woman to the I.V. in a better position. He went through the motions of setting everything up while the Doctor took one last moment before breaking away from her friend.  
“You're still her legal guardian,” Stykk said. “Perhaps you will see her again?”  
“It may be some time,” the Doctor said.  
“Hearing the sound of your voice might bring her around,” Stykk said.  
“Might have an opposite effect.”  
“There are other options...”  
“No, no, I don't want to go there...”  
“Could be an act of mercy,” Stykk said. “Some might call it humane.”  
“I don't want you to consider that option again. There's still hope for Soreen. Everyone deserves a second chance.”  
As the Doctor returned to the front lobby, her long coat hanged her like theater curtains, she stepped into the waiting room where her friend TJ was. Soreen was on her own again.  
The thought of it bothered the Doctor.  
Who was going to help Soreen now?

Chapter thirty-eight  
TJ was ready to make his departure as he collected his bow and arrows. He was testing the bow string to make sure it was tight—tweaking it out, he plucked at the bow string like a guitarist looking for the right note.  
All the while the giant Cekuk settled back into his chair. He resembled a monster from the fairy book, but he was a good monster despite his mood swings, bad smoking habits and constant grumbling.  
“You ought to put her under,” Stykk grumbled. “Having her around like having a loose cannon.”  
“I feel it's a bit wrong leaving her like this.”  
“It's not your fault she ended up like this,” TJ said.  
“You're all bleeding hearts liberals,” Stykk said.  
“You make it sound like she's already dead,” the Doctor said.  
“She's got no soul in her. I doubt she cares about you, me or the damn universe.”  
“Her mind is locked away,” the Doctor said. “I don't see any more signs of any shadows of the past. They're gone from her mind.”  
“That's a good thing,” TJ added.  
“I wonder...”  
“She's always wondering...” TJ added.  
“You did fairly well for yourself,” the Doctor said. “We could always use another crew member who can lift heavy things. I've never had a Cekuk on board before.”  
“You're offering a ride?” Stykk said. “What do you usually do out there?”  
“Fight monsters, stop the bad guys and save the day,” TJ said.  
“Sounds pretty good,” Stykk said.  
“You got a family and a kid, though,” TJ continued. “I don't think it'd be right to break up a family.”  
“I know from experience it's not a good thing,” the Doctor said.  
“I got a confession to make,” Stykk said. “I don't have a family. Don't even like kids.”  
“Why did you say all that before about having a family?” TJ said.  
“I didn't want you to think I'm some blamed loser,” Stykk said.  
“Nobody thinks that,” the Doctor said. “The offer still stands. You can join the losers club here.”  
“I still have my job here,” Stykk admitted. “Good benefits. Good vacation pay. Health care, too.”  
“Then I won't be holding up on your best endeavors,” the Doctor said. “it's time we move on anyway.”  
“You're in a hurry to get nowhere?” Stykk replied.  
“That's now how I would word it,” the Doctor said. “Goodbye for now.”  
“You're wearing out my eyes,” Stykk grumbled.  
Now the Cekuk lifted his large, reptilian eyes when he watched the Doctor step towards him. She wasn't afraid of the long rows of teeth or the huffing expanse of his pig-like cheeks. He shuffled slightly while he hanged in his chair like a couch potato.  
His fingers grabbed the cigar from his mouth as he stabbed it into the nearby ashtray. Soon the belligerent smoke cleared while his face poke through the seamless mist of the cigar fumes.  
“Cigar smoke is actually nurturing and healthy for folks,” Stykk said. “It's a proven fact.”  
“Is that so?”  
“Was that bothering you?” Stykk said.  
“More than you think,” the Doctor said.  
“It took you long enough in there.”  
“We were caught up in a conversation.”  
“Did you have a nice visit?” the giant said.  
“Just give me back my sonic screwdriver.”  
“Well, aren't we a little tetchy today. I'll have to add to the ever-growing list of complaints.”

Chapter thirty-nine  
The giant looked at her for a moment, and he found it was like walking in a cave of dark thoughts when speaking to her. If he were to say one more wrong thing, he may regret it for the rest of his life.  
So he backed off from her like a Beasley coward, feeling a small tingle of fear running up and down his spine. That girl looked like she could crack his neck just standing there.  
With an annoyed growl, the beastly guard reached over to the safety deposit box where he stored all the mechanical devices. His pudgy fingers pressed the security number on the dials before it made a loud whirl.  
It was a good sound because the box unclasped open to reveal the cylindrical, long object that offered a silver glare. It was ironic to see the screwdriver being locked up in a cage that it couldn't open. Still the Doctor was glad to see it again, her fingers clenching as the green guard retrieved it for her. And the psychic paper.  
She pressed the flat of her hand once again on the door pad to register her departure. It was just simple process, but it seemed to infuriate her. She looked like a woman who couldn't wait to get out of here.  
This was a woman who feared nothing, and yet something upset her while she was down in the mind dungeons.  
The Doctor moved with the flowing garb that wrapped around the curvy mountains of her body. Her features looked like a willful arrow of intellect, sharp, relentless. She had a long nose, and a proud face. She was a woman who was used to taking her own strides, and the next of her hair soothed her strong shoulders.  
With a single motion, in a fluid action, the Doctor pocketed the sonic screwdriver in her coat pocket like a magician carrying on a trick. She did it so well that it was like seeing a professional making a memorable scene. 

Chapter forty  
Now Stykk, creaking his neck, leaned back into his chair as he folded his hands behind his head, latticing his fingers. He used the chair for extra support while he stared on like a bored audience.  
The Doctor strolled away like a carving knife, swift, powerful. Her legs clipped together in a rhythm while her strutting form moved like the authority of the gods. Her face grew rich with searing emotions as she looked like a woman containing herself.  
What could have bothered her so much?  
The Doctor didn't even say another word, but the giant man wasn't going to let her have the last word out of here. This was his place, his domain. He made a fist as he slammed on his desk, making a noise.  
“I suppose it was an educational discussion, eh?” Stykk said.  
The Doctor turned around like the wind, her hair swinging around in a maelstrom of dark beauty. She glared back at him with a long look that might have made any man crumble to his knees.  
“Soreen doesn't remember me at all,” the Doctor said. “I've visited her every single time, and yet she doesn't remember any of it.”  
“I told you that her mental illness is slipping away,” Stykk said. “It seems to getting better.”  
“And yet she still retains memories of certain things. Her mind like like a minefield of broken thoughts. Any wrong step might set her off.”  
“That's a nice way of saying things.”  
“It's true. Make sure she doesn't get out of this place,” the Doctor said.  
“That woman is beneath several floors of metal made from the strongest alloy,” the giant snarled. “And there is also the door that sits between me and the rest of the patients. Ain't no one getting out of there without me noticing.”  
“Uh-huh. You think so?”  
“I don't think so. I know.”  
“Under no circumstances are you ever to let her go,” the Doctor said.  
“We have no intention of letting Soreen go anywhere.”  
“Good.”  
“Though the asylum is running out of room.. Space has become more of an issue than ever before. We may be in the position to move Soreen to better space...”  
The Doctor clutched at the desk with her bare hands, her fingers hooking into the surface. Her body leaned over the steel ledge while her face shifted into torrents of anger that could provoke the cosmos.  
Her eyes fueled with a lashing. Stykk never saw anything like it again when he saw the way she looked at him, and her stare punched him through the gut while he felt his breath taken from her. Her presence was like a storm rolling over him.  
“You are NOT to let her out of that room!” the Doctor shouted. “She's far too dangerous! She's no longer physically ill, but her mind...”  
“Now wait a minute...”  
“Furthermore, if you do such a foolish thing like letting that caged animal out, the cosmos will turn into a living playground for her! She'll kill any living thing that gets in her way for the sake of revenge! Her hate will be a tidal wave that will destroy millions! Do you understand me?”  
“You're really going off the cliff now.”  
“If you have any intention of moving Soreen anywhere, I will personally come back to this asylum to burn the whole thing down! And I'll burn everything within those walls just to keep the universe safe! Do I make myself perfectly clear?”  
“Who the hell do you think you are?” the giant said. “On whose authority is this going to be done?”  
The Doctor continue to shout, “Time-Lord authority! I'll burn everything to the ground. And you'll go down with it! Do not move Soreen anywhere! She stays here!”  
The Doctor knew she couldn't stay here anymore because the universe was always calling to her. The TARDIS was waiting for her too, still parked on the docking bay some distance away. And she could feel the cosmos wanting for her to help, needing her healing.  
Of course, she was a doctor. And she was going to fix everything up like she was meant to. She moved like the eye of the storm while her jutting figure roared with a bursting anger. She could no longer contain herself, and the fleeting moments of dark despair settled into a small calmness.  
The lone figure pulled on her robes which whisked around her legs like a swinging effect, making her look more like a buccaneer from movies. Her clothes chatted with an adventurous twitch while she stormed away from the asylum doors. She would be glad to get away from this place.  
“Wow, she's angry,” Stykk grumbled.  
Her eyes seemed to resemble the red seas while the boiling temper lifted in her like a bad note. Her movements splashed against the shores of wonder while she moved with exalted fury.  
No more tombs beneath the ground. No more catacombs to sift through like a fish in the water. No more helpless shrieks from the clothes spaces of hades itself. She would have nothing more to do with this eternity of prison. 

Chapter forty-one  
The Doctor and TJ were strolling between the hedges of grass, skirting the overlooking topiary animals. Before heading into the path where the TARDIS sat. It remained at the edge of the park without a peep.  
As the Doctor approached the familiar blue box, her boots clicking against the trail, she thought about the colors of the TARDIS being soothing. It was like an ocean. It was relaxing.  
Not like red which was explosive color like a volcano. Blue was nice. The Doctor dug her hands into her pockets to fetch the key while she lifted her face slightly at the police box.  
“I hope you didn't drop the key anywhere,” TJ said.  
“Not even I am that absent minded!” the Doctor piped.  
“I plead the fifth.”  
“I'll go my own way,” the Doctor said.  
“Is Soreen safe in there?”  
“This is the only safe place for Soreen. Her mind has regressed and now she's dreaming of sweet dreams.”  
“Maybe. She could be faking it..”  
“Nonsense. Where would you like to go next?” the Doctor said while struggling to open the door with a thundering push. “Maybe the Shouting Fires of the planet Teejvio or we could visit the planet Uryuomoco to fight the Troll King?”  
“You made that up!” TJ said.  
“I did not make it up. That is a real place!”  
“I don't believe you!”  
“Or would you rather battle the K'Kree on the planet Edana to save the princess? That's more of your style,” the Doctor said.  
“You made that up too!” TJ protested.  
“Get in the TARDIS!”  
“Silly person! Trolls, indeed!”  
“They're huge! Gigantic! Very mean! They could bite your arm off if they're hungry enough,” the Doctor said.  
“I still don't believe you!”  
“Well, I know exactly where we can go next,” the Doctor said. “Troll Land. You won't like it there!”  
“Prove me wrong!”  
“Now you're asking for it!”  
The Doctor stole a glance at the building behind her while it sat under the glass dome. It showed the entire planet's surface resting in paradise not often known to visitors. This place was quite the opposite of the Phantom Planet. And yet even this place had its own ghosts.  
Stepping into the TARDIS, leaving the memories behind, the Doctor and TJ prepared for another adventure out there. It felt like going into old territory once again.  
There was always something waiting around the next cosmic corner. So many things could meet the intrepid travelers. It could be Daleks, Cybermen, Ice Warriors or even trolls.  
That somber note of departure whirled around the blue box in the gorge of noises rattling from the inside. That grinding boom sounded weary, coughing, like something that's been through the endless heavens.  
Now the Doctor returned to the centerpiece of the console room where the TARDIS looked like the machinery of the gods. Now the Doctor threw several switches to force the TARDIS into a decided momentum. She needed to give it a little push.  
As the blue box shuffled away into the winds of time, no longer on the grassy knolls, there was no longer the engines creating a flood of noise in the air. Now it moved on like a slingshot to better places.  
Even here, beyond the eyes of men, something moved in the shadows. Such a darkness shifted with a protruding presence of old memories. Somewhere else, in a world of her own, Soreen giggled like a terrifying child. 

THE END

 

March 17, 2017  
Approximately 22,862 words


End file.
